


The Lion and the Mouse

by AshaCrone



Series: Kindness to strangers [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Gender/Sexuality, Birth, Dubious Science, Impregnation, M/M, Other, Pregnancy, how they got together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-10-05 00:50:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 43,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10293659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshaCrone/pseuds/AshaCrone
Summary: Thace knew the other Blades would laugh at him for helping the injured human.He was angry at himself for it.But, when the human returns the favor, two lonely souls find a little bit of peace in an an ugly world and an even uglier galaxy.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a self-fill for the Voltron kink meme, where I wanted to see Thace be Keith's mother via creative Galra anatomy. This first chapter is sort of a 'how did they meet' story while the next will have the porn.

_“If you had sired a few whelps in your youth you might have put this off for a few more decafebes. But it looks like you’ll be getting broody soon.”_

Thace had been somewhat numb after leaving the medic’s office. His only consolation after being told that he would soon become broody- the colloquial term used when a Galra’s physiology shifted from being able to inseminate others to being impregnated- was that he could request a contraceptive shot if he wished. He could go back to work safely then. His other option was to request brood leave, and take the time to find a mate of his choice before returning to work once the whelp was weaned, or leave the whelp at a state-run crèche. 

With the shot, he could possibly hide his condition for a time. _Without_ the shot, as soon as his superiors scented his new status he would doubtless be pushed into an alcove and bred, then forced to carry the whelp to term. It would all be his own fault, of course. His new status meant be would want the finest stock available, and it was his duty to submit to those higher in the hierarchy.

Thace chose to take the leave. 

His position as Prorok’s lieutenant had been a useful one, letting him be privy to much of the goings-on of Zarkon’s Commanders for the Blades, but… he could find an opportunity here. So he took a few vargas, going through the motions of pretending to check the genetic profiles of some old friends, and sending coded messages out to the Blades before finding an indirect route to the nearest communication hub.

“So you’re going to take the brood leave to spy out the sector of space where they think Voltron might have been hidden?” Kolivan asked. He sounded almost amused. Then again, _he_ wasn’t going through the fever and cramps and dysphoria that came with getting broody. _Thace_ , on the other hand, had a fire in his belly, and felt touch-starved, needy and wanted to claw off his own skin.

“Do you think Prorok would leave me alone?” Thace muttered. “Or Sendak, or any of the other Commanders? I’ve seen them chase the tail of anyone broody within reach. Even with the shot, they’d still be after me until it wore off. _Then_ they would order me to bed. Anyone of them would do it.”

“We need you in place, Thace. You may have to make that sacrifice.” He sounded sympathetic but firm. They needed every advantage they could get. Thace knew that. They all did.

Thace hid the atavistic shudder that went down his spine. He had made sacrifices before, for the sake of the Blades. Most had left scars under his fur, hard to see. Like most of the other Blades, he had chosen not to sire any whelps, for fear of them being used as leverage against them, or just the sheer desire not to see more innocents brought into this conflict.

His devotion to the Blades was total, but the idea of creating an innocent who could be become the next victim in this war- He had seen whelps and children die, alien and Galra both. He had no wish to see more.

There was a medical station on the communications hub. While it would be a few more weeks until the shift was complete, he would be able to give himself the contraceptive shot in peace.

~*~*~*~*~

Two months later, and he was being a fool.

The other Blades would be laughing at him, as he carried the young human up and out of the small canyon he had fallen into.

Thace had been dancing around the human for some time, as he hiked through the area that Thace was surveying. Most of the area was uninhabited, and in the time that Thace had been there he had not seen any humans until now. Thace had thought he was a hiker until he realized that the human had a projectile weapon.

Perhaps Thace should _not_ have indulged in catching and eating the small avians that had strayed close to his camp. But they had been plump and tender, and had tasted so much like breen (but, honestly, almost everything did) that he had found it difficult to eat just one, and when food basically dropped in your lap..?

The human had almost dropped in his lap, too. He had concussed himself, and was barely conscious. 

It was _stupid_. He could hear the other Blades telling him that he should just let the human die. He owed the human nothing, and he was doing work to protect the universe, not just one planet. (Except that the humans might look for him and discover him that way. Except that he had no desire to dispose of another body. Except that he was _sick and tired_ of watching beings die for no reason when he had the power to _do something_.)

The young male human was breathing. He was lucky; Thace had seen no spine or neck injuries, though he did think his arm was broken. 

His goal was to carry the human to the road. Walking, it would be about an hour away, but his hoverbike meant he could get there within a few moments. 

He just hoped that the human stayed unconscious for most of that time. 

Of course, just as those thoughts occurred to him, the human groaned loudly, and Thace hissed a curse before slapping a hand over the human’s eyes.

“Who’s there?” He was wheezing from pain, and on the knife edge of panic.

“Don’t worry about it,” Thace answered, slowly. He hoped the translator microbes did their job. “You’re safe. You had an accident. I found you, and I’m taking you to the road so you can get help.”

There was silence for a few moments while the human processed this. He had to give the human credit for putting together coherent thought, at least. “Why are my eyes covered?”

Thace snorted. “I’m ugly. You would be frightened at the sight of me.” Honest enough. 

“I’m… not that… squeamish,” the human said faintly. Thace grimaced. He feared the human was going into shock.

“You’ve broken your left arm.” He shouldn’t be speaking. He knew he shouldn’t be speaking. But it had been months since he had said a word to any living thing and now he felt… just relieved. “I’m also sure you have a concussion. But you will survive.”

“Oh.” He sounded surprised by this.

Thace’s bike was just ahead. He sighed, patting his pockets for something he could use as a blindfold, finally tearing a chunk of his sleeve free. (And he was grateful he wasn’t wearing armor at that moment.) “Keep your eyes closed,” he ordered, sitting the man down on the bike and quickly dropping the blindfold over his face.

“You a drug runner?” the human asked, voice soft and thready.

Thace’s lips twitched. “No.”

“Then what are you?”

“Someone with bad luck, and a great love of privacy.” He pulled the human against his chest, noting that this human was far from tiny, the way others of his kind were. In fact, his eyes were level with Thace’s chin. He had dark hair and eyes and a cut through his eyebrow that would probably scar. His furless skin was weathered, especially his hands. Like all humans, his ears were oddly round. 

He didn’t have anything to splint the human’s arm, so Thace tried to be careful as he held him. The human’s shivering lessened as he leaned against Thace as they pulled out.

The ride itself was uneventful, coming to a stop about ten dobashes later. Thace got off the bike and brought the human with him, laid him down.

“Do you have a communicator with you?” Thace asked.

“A what?”

Thace cursed under his breath. “A phone?” he asked, using the human word, and not what the translator provided.

“Yeah.” He groped through his pockets, bringing it out. His face was starting to turn gray behind the blindfold. “Uh-“

Thace took it. “What is the code?”

“If I could take off-“

Thace growled at him and the human stopped. “Uh- my birthday. Zero-four-zero-one! Is that a cougar?”

Thace grimaced. “You are safe.” He input the code and pursed his lips together as he brought up the speaking function of the communications device. “How do you contact emergency services?”

The human told him, and he put the device to the human’s ear. The human outlined the situation: his name was Jacob Kogane, this was his address, he had been out hunting for the critter that had been out killing his chickens in the old washout near his house. He’d slipped and knocked himself stupid. Someone had helped him. He was going to leave his GPS on so they could find him more easily. The dispatcher insisted he stay on the line.

Thace set him on the ground, turning to leave, but froze when the human reached out blindly to catch his hand.

“Wait.”

The word was soft, but...

“Please don't leave me alone,” the human, Jacob, said. “You don't have to say anything, just don't leave.” He was shaking again. Thace couldn’t tell if it was from pain or from fear, but…

Thace took a long, slow breath, and then folded down to sit next to Jacob and taking his uninjured hand. “Very well. I will stay as long as I can.” He lifted Jacob to his lap. 

The last thing that Jacob said before Thace left was “How big _are_ you?”

~*~*~*~*~

The quadruped was small (coming just over his knee), fearless, and absolutely shameless when it came to begging for food. It had shown up one day, white and gray with long legs and huge paws, curious and friendly, and more than willing to stick its nose where it didn’t belong.

Thace had gotten more careful about the avians- chickens?- that came through. But he still hunted for the occasional animal- the legless things were tasty as well- because his rations were dry and tasteless and boring. 

Then this beggar showed up and started giving him _looks_. Sidling closer. Pawing his knee for food and scratches both. 

He gave it some of the offal and a few of the bones he didn’t want to eat himself. After that, while the animal would come and go, he frequently had a companion who would engage in play and conversation… even if it was just him doing the talking. 

But it helped. Oh, it helped.

~*~*~*~*~

One month later, and Thace was holding his breath, holding still, trying to ignore the pain in his side and his foot as he hid inside a small wooden barn while the Galaxy Garrison’s flying vehicle shown a spotlight over the area.

There were shouts that the translator wasn’t picking up, and he could hear small animals sounding. Many chickens (the ones that tasted like breen) were flapping their wings and crying their protests at the noise.

A loud screech and the clack of a slamming door echoed across the yard as boots pounded the dirt. The steps got closer, closer- then stopped. He could see a shadow kneel through the slats in the wood-

_Blood_ , Thace thought, and grimaced, reaching for his knife. _Someone found my blood-_

He saw the figure stand up, and kick at the dirt under its feet as two more sets of feet came closer.

“Are you fine folks from the Garrison?” a familiar voice drawled, as calm as if he were talking about the weather. Thace blinked. The blood loss had him dizzy, with both light and sound being fuzzy and gray around the edges. He knew that voice. Why the name had stuck with him, he didn’t know, but… 

“We are,” a different voice answered. Higher. Still authoritative, but Thace guessed the speaker was female. “An alarm was tripped and we chased the intruder here to your property. Have you seen anything out of the ordinary?”

There was a pause while the human thought. “There was this big cat awhile back,” he said. “He was eating my pullets. Never actually saw him, though. And tonight’s been quiet. Nothing until you lot showed up.”

“We would like permission to search your-“

“No.”

There was quiet as they digested this. “Mr. Kogane, I know you don’t like the Garrison, but-“

“Now, listen, y’all are the ones that upset my chickens. My goat will probably kick me tomorrow. Ain’t nobody peculiar been around here right now, and I know. Cause, see?” He whistled, and a small quadrupedal body sidled over. “This little lady? She goes absolutely _nuts_ if she smells someone she don’t know.” An unhappy growl, unnoticed before, suddenly got stronger. Jacob patted the animal’s head. “Like she is right now.” The growl got louder.

“Sir, please call off your dog.”

“Why? Y’all are the trespassers on my property,” Jacob said mildly. A long projectile weapon came up, and was placed easily over his shoulder. “Now, my arm is still busted but I don’t aim with my left. So. Y’all can come back with a warrant and the police, you can illegally attack me and get recorded, because I do happen to have a camera set up, or I can defend my property which, by the way, is completely legal.”

There was soft swearing, before the other two figures retreated to the sound of a flying machine taking to the air. Thace let out a long breath.

“Fuck I should start playing poker,” Jacob muttered when calm had returned to the area. “Okay, Princess, find your buddy.” He clicked his tongue, and the animal made a call. “Find your buddy.”

Thace realized, with a grimace, that while he may not be captured by the Galaxy Garrison, he wasn’t going to be able to get away. His leg wouldn’t hold him, and he was too weak to move anyways.

Thace suddenly found a pointed, wet nose shoved into his face as the quadruped gave him the saddest, most heartbreaking whine Thace had ever heard, and licked him. 

He growled reflexively, making it yelp and give him another pitiful whine. Despite himself, Thace sighed and reached out to pat the animal on the head.

“You find him?” Jacob called, and Thace ground his teeth when the animal called again, shifting his grip on his dagger. 

Thace could hear Jacob’s steps, slow and deliberate, before he arrived. He looked much, much taller than he had before, especially from this position. He was wearing blue trousers, a shirt and some kind of coat that was decorated in perpendicular blue and black stripes, his left arm in a sling. His dark eyes were almost invisible, but he could see the whites taking up half of his face in surprise.

Their eyes met, and Jacob whistled, lips curling up on one side. “You ain’t near as ugly as you let on,” he whispered, bracing himself with the butt of his rifle and crouching down.

That was the last thing Thace heard as his head hit the dirt floor.


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up was its own merry hell.

A small part of his mind noted that he was surprised to be waking up at all, as he was fairly sure he was about to bleed out or be captured and dissected or whatever it was that humans did with aliens. Not that he actually felt like living was the better option at that moment.

“Hey, you need water?” 

Thace blinked sore, stiff eyes and opened his mouth. No words came out, instead a harsh, dry cough that tore at his throat. 

“Can you sit up?”

Thace blinked in the light, but his side burned as he tried to sit up and fell backwards with a snarl. 

“Easy, big fella, easy,” the voice soothed. He felt a small hand and body work their way behind him, helping prop him up enough for a metal canteen to be put to his lips. At that moment, prisoner thinking- that he might be poisoned or drugged- flew from his mind as the water eased his parched, aching throat. He gulped, choking, and the canteen was taken away. “Slow down.”

Coughing hurt like fire going through his chest as it aggravated his side. He couldn’t help the hiss that came from his lips, curling up in pain. 

The one hand started petting his hair, his shoulder. “Hey, shhh… Relax and breathe. Shh…” 

For a moment, Thace reveled in it. He hadn’t been touched in a way that wasn’t to inflict pain, or in sparring, since… since the last time he had seen his fellow Blades. And only then it was a slap on the shoulder. Warmth, kindness- he found himself purring before he could stop himself.

The hand drew back, and Thace now did, in fact, stop himself. The cough settled itself, and he was, well, being braced up by the small human- Jacob- that he had met a month prior.

“Uh, howdy. You been out of it for about three days. I was gettin’ concerned,” Jacob mumbled, laying Thace back into the straw, and Thace found the self-possession to finally take a look around.

Sunlight was filtering through the wooden slats of the barn walls, showing that he was almost in the exact same place he had been when he had fallen unconscious. Jacob’s clothing was slightly different- almost identical trousers, but his shirt was gray instead of white, and a red long-sleeved shirt over that- and the mane on his face has grown and gotten thicker. 

He was covered in several blankets, which was… somewhat good. Though he realized he could feel the blankets against his fur. With absolutely nothing in between.

Thace pushed down the blankets to look at the bandages cover his chest, and down to realize that his clothing was gone. Then he looked back up to the human’s face.

“I, um. You were in bad shape. I had to cut your clothes off to get to your wounds,” Jacob said, and his face turned a vibrant shade of red. “I stitched up the graze on your side, and the shot to your foot was… ugly. Hit some of the metatarsals, and getting the bullet out was hard. Keeping things clean so there wouldn’t be an infection was a real bitch, too. I thought about giving you some pain killers or antibiotics, but… I was afraid I might kill you if I did it.” He looked regretful. “You’re a tough bastard.”

Thace closed his eyes. 

“Do you understand me?”

Thace made eye contact with him again, then he nodded. Jacob offered the canteen back. “Anyways, I figured I owed you. Even if you did eat my chickens. That means you can eat Earth food… well, some of it.” He watched Thace drink. “When you gotta pee, I have a barrel.” His face turned red. “I don’t want to move you until you’re not hot anymore- your temperature is _a hella_ lot higher than when you found me.” 

Thace finished the water and put the canteen down.

“You’re gonna have to help me,” Jacob said quietly. “Talk to me. Please.”

Thace looked away. “What should I say?” he finally spoke, but he could see Jacob’s entire demeanor simultaneously relax and brighten. 

“M’name’s Jacob. You can call me Jake. You gotta a name?”

“Thace.”

“You…” He trailed off, swallowing. “I gotta ton of questions. But you look like something Princess dragged in right now. So, first. Pain level, one to ten. One is you feel great, ten you have the worst pain of your life. Where are you?”

“Earth.”

Jake blinked. Blinked again, and barked a laugh. “Okay. You can joke. What pain level are you?”

Thace tried to shrug but that didn’t happen. “Eight.” He had hurt worse, but not by much. But he didn’t have access to an Imperial medbay, either. 

Jake deflated. “Okay. I can’t do much for you, well, as well as I should.” He lifted his broken arm. “This is still mending.” He reached behind himself, and pulled out another flask. He put it between his knees to unscrew the top. “You liked the chicken,” and his lips quirked. “You might like this.”

Thace took the offered flask, noting the steam coming out. He took a cautious taste. It was a yellow broth, with lipids floating at the top. It was just a little salty, but it felt even better going down than the water had. 

He had half of it drunk before he realized it.

“Thought so.” Jake sounded relieved. “I’ll be able to feed you something, at least.”

Thace finished the broth. “Thank you.”

And just like that, Jake was bright again. “Hey, I owe you. You, well, I thought I was going to scare off a big cat-“ and then he laughed again. “And got the shit scared out of me. And… I don’t know why you’re here, or where you’re from, but… You could have left me high and dry and helpless. You didn’t.” 

“You could have done the same.” 

Jake’s face flashed to a frown. “Like hell I would.” 

Thace snorted. His limbs started to feel heavy as the warmth from the broth settled in his belly and he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. “I am a stranger to you. It was in my best interests to get you away from my camp.”

“Yeah, and it would have been in your best interests to leave no witnesses,” Jake retorted, and then paused when he saw how Thace was flagging. “You should go back to sleep. I’ll bring you some more soup. We can try some other stuff, see if it won’t kill you.” He got to his knees and pulled one blanket to Thace’s shoulders and the other over his feet. “I’ll get Princess to watch you. She was real worried. I'm going to go in the house and cook some supper. Tell Princess if you need something and she’ll come get me.”

Clearly this ‘dog’ was far more than the mere beast she pretended to be then. Not that it mattered at that moment, because he was already drifting off to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~

Jake somehow managed to find clothes for him, though there was a period of a few weeks where he had nothing but blankets for covering. But given the state of his injuries and the lack of technology to heal them, not covering them in clothes made keeping them clean and monitored somewhat easier.

Jake was more uncomfortable with this than Thace had been. Though Thace did have more clothing at his base camp, he was reluctant to share the location with the human no matter how much he started to enjoy his company. Jake had been sleeping in the barn with him –

“No, not sleeping with!” The human had protested, when Thace pointed out his bedroll. His face was a brilliant scarlet when he said that. “Sharing!”

Perhaps it was a translator issue. 

While _sharing the barn_ with him, Thace had started to let his guard down. Reluctantly, but it was hard to stay guarded around someone trying so hard to be hospitable and friendly. Even the dog didn't, though she did double as his bed warmer at night. 

"Princess is a smart lady," Jake told him later. "She's got some wolf in her, I think, but not sure how much. She dragged herself here a few years back after she been hit with a car, when she was a puppy. Dunno how.” He scratched Princess’ ears. Not that Thace knew what a wolf was, but the translator suggested some kind of different subspecies. 

He wasn't sure how to respond, just mentioned that she had begged for food.

“Yup. She would eat and eat until her eyes popped out and beg for more.” He was grinning at Thace as he said this. “But you got a friend for life once you did.” The dog had come over to Thace to demand a belly rub, which Thace gave without thinking. 

The smile on Jake’s face rivalled the sun at that moment. Thace realized, belatedly, that he had passed some kind of test of character. 

“I sent her after you,” he said after a moment. “I figured you might still be lurking around. You left the blindfold on me, and I used it to give her your smell.” He shook his head. “She came back in a great mood. People or other dogs, she runs off if she don’t like ‘em.”

Thace paused. “I see.” Princess crawled over, head down, clearly asking for more stroking. Thace complied.

Jake laughed. “She got you trained real quick, didn’t she?”

Thace snorted. “I have been here for some time. Her visits were welcome.”

It was the first time that Thace had brought up his mission, what he was doing there, even how long he had been on Earth, and Jake tilted his head in curiosity. “You by yourself?”

“You are here right now. So is Princess.”

“Ha-ha. Think you’re a funny guy.” A strange expression crossed his face. “What pronouns do you use?”

“Animate, equal in rank to you, and respectful,” Thace deadpanned. He had gotten the impression that humans had more than one sex and gender, which was… odd. The idea of being broody his entire life was terrifying, even if the pain and dysphoria had been tapering off. “I use translator microbes so we can understand each other, but they aren’t perfect. You hear what makes sense to you. But my language tends to use titles as opposed to pronouns and most of them relate to where you are in hierarchy relative to each other. Using a pronoun with the wrong shade of respect is…” Thace shrugged. “Very insulting.” And in the military, that tended to carry the risk of being thrashed, thrown into gladiator combat, or turned over to the druids. “But if it helps you, we consider ourselves male, relative to species with two or more sexes and genders.”

Jake stared at him. “Huh.” He paused, and tilted his head to the side, and he seemed to unconsciously be mimicking Princess. “You… only got one sex? You reproduce asexually?”

Thace opened his mouth, and shut it again. He had no reason to reveal any intimate details about Galra biology to Jake. He had no reason to reveal any details _at all._ But… He wanted to explain. Some of it, at least. Jake had prattled on about his animals and his job (ironically, he was an EMT himself, and would take off and leave him with Princess for hours at a time) and had kept the silence from growing oppressive. He hadn’t asked many questions, except for ones that pertained to Thace’s health. 

Was it too much to ask, or to hope for, to have an unguarded conversation? For once?

“We start and mature as male, when we are young,” Thace said quietly. “We explore and fight and find mates, sire whelps if we wish. But after a time, if we do not sire whelps or, not many, we become capable of brooding, throwing whelps. However, we cannot do both at the same time.”

Jake’s eyebrows were high enough to almost hit his hairline. “That’s interesting.” He tilted his head to the side, but he didn’t ask the expected question. “You got kids?”

Thace shook his head. “No.” That wasn’t quite where he wanted to go. “You?”

Jake gave a small, stuttering laugh and looked away. “Never found the right time and partner. I like ‘em, I want ‘em, but…” He trailed off, and Thace let him. 

“I would be concerned about their safety,” Thace said, when the silence became oppressive. “I have no desire to bring an innocent into the universe and be unable to protect them.”

Jake nodded at him. “That’s… yeah. That’s about it.”

~*~*~*~*~

The Garrison was quiet. Almost suspiciously so. Thace had been tracking down the piece of Voltron that might be there, and he was certain that the Garrison knew something, because they were sitting right next to where his initial scans had shown the most likely site for ruins.

Yet they hadn’t returned. Even as the weather started to cool, and Jake made sure that no one was watching, there was no indication that the Garrison was even suspicious of his presence. It was due to that lack of interest that, on a very cloudy day, they brought Thace in to Jake’s house.

It wasn’t a large dwelling, all one floor. There were signs of wear everywhere, from the creaky floorboards to chipped paint to the threadbare look of the overstuff furniture. It was, however, scrupulously clean and well aired. The painted walls were off-white, and there were small square frames holding two-dimensional, unmoving pictures, mostly of other humans.

Thace hobbled about, looking at them, and Jake gave a running commentary on each one. 

“Them? They’re my parents. Momma passed about… two years ago. Daddy, he’s been with God for fifteen. Grandparents are on the right. Don’t remember them too well. Momma’s died before I was born and Dad’s left us when I was real young.” Beside the older adults, there was a human with a face that looked like a variation of Jake’s own. “Him? My brother Joseph.” He sounded uncomfortable at the mention of his name. “We haven’t talked in a long time.” There was a female and two immature humans in a larger frame with a crude, but colorful drawing. Thace couldn’t understand the writing but he could guess some of the context of the stick figures holding hands. “That’s Joe’s ex-wife and kids.” He reached out to touch it fondly. “The kids are Rebecca and Samuel. Becky’s amazing. Smart as a whip. Sam’s a goober. They’re… god, they gotta be twelve and eight, now.” He let out a long breath. 

“You miss them?”

“Like burning. But they’re better off away from Joe.” Thace’s ears twitched at that, and Jake clarified. “Joe’s got a temper and… well, he didn’t really want me in their lives anyways.”

Thace let the matter drop. 

The last picture had Jake with a group of other humans in similar clothing, which he would assume was a uniform. The way they held themselves… “You were a soldier?”

“Did two tours as a field medic. I didn’t have to kill anyone, but… saw some stuff I never want to see again,” Jake answered. He started clearing off a long sofa, making a pile of pillows to prop up Thace’s foot. 

“Then you are a better person than I.”

Jake laughed a bit. “Don’t sell yourself short.” He came over to urge Thace to the sofa. “Want to try some lemonade?”

~*~*~*~*~

Jake still had to work, which meant long stretches of time where Thace was alone in the house. He had shown Thace how to use the entertainment system, and how to use the round disks into the readers so he could watch movies. It was passive, which was fine when he was still low on energy and coping mentally without the benefit of pain killers.

“Television” was often confusing and strange. He had no idea what they were talking about. Some of the children’s programming was easier for him to understand, and he did enjoy the big yellow avian and the kind human putting on shoes. Kind, sweet and charming, and he found himself watching for hours.

He would never, ever tell the Blades this. Ever. 

But at some point, pain started to recede enough, and his energy come back enough, that boredom set in. So he started looking through the disks. Some of them seemed to be folktales and legends (it was staged, but he did appreciate good blade work), others were human ideas of what space was like (interesting, and their science wasn’t terribly off), different art styles (human actors or animation), some stories that seemed he assumed were meant to be funny but left him lost because, again, lack of context… and pornography.

He assumed it was pornography at least. It was animated, and… well, the story left him completely lost, and wondering how much of it was fanciful and how much was reality because magic was real but the creatures here resembled nothing he had ever seen, but… okay, she was not wearing clothing to cover her genitals because she forgot. He had not met any human females in person, but in the other movies their mammary glands did _not_ do that. 

Spirits of the Lions. Did they do that? He looked down at his own chest; he was capable of nursing his own whelps but… evolution had taken a strange turn on earth, surely…

He changed the disk for what looked to be another of the same type. And this one seemed to include a monster with phallic tentacles. Well. 

He changed disks again. He wasn’t sure if he was amused or just confused. He didn’t care for the violence aspect- being abused was something a subordinate soldier of the Galra was overly familiar with- but so many other aspects were absurd to the point of hilarity. 

And now he found something that had human actors. That was a nice change. The humans were all male this time, and the plot itself was minimal, as opposed to the long, contrived oddness of the animated ones. 

He was a bit disappointed at how smooth the humans were. Jake had some fur, on his arms and legs and chest, though he kept the mane on his face shaven. Which was a pity. He would have liked to see Jake with a mane. His hair was nice. He liked Jake’s hair, would like to have gotten to touch it. The humans on the screen were doing that weird mouth thing that he had seen, though he could guess it was meant to arouse. He wondered, briefly, if eating was arousing to humans. But no, Jake had eaten with him often, without acting aroused. 

Okay, the pupils of his eyes had dilated when Thace had been licking his fingers. But he hadn’t been eating, himself.

Despite himself, he found he was hugging the pillow on Jake’s side of the sofa and breathing deeply, feeling heat pool between his legs, nipples tingling and tight as he shifted his weight-

Huh. Their tongues were much shorter and less agile, but it meant that taking each other’s cocks in their mouths was safer. That was appealing. And while their dicks lacked the ridges on a Galra cock, they were much, much thicker than their small bodies would suggest-

Hm. How big was Jake, he wondered?

As soon as the thought occurred to him, Thace’s ears went flat on his head. He had no business lusting over an alien. Even if that alien had been kind, sweet, patient-

-fun, with even, symmetrical features, and a pleasant color, smelled good, felt good when they had, even briefly, touched-

He muttered to himself, shifting and opening his legs, unbuttoning his jeans to reach down to touch himself. His cock had shrunk down to a nub, barely peeking out of its sheath, but the tip was still sensitive… but the crease below was what was begging for his fingers. He had tried to ignore the slit before but now, the soft, swollen lips that had opened up, making him arch his back as he touched them-

He had to be careful. So careful, he didn’t want to hurt himself as he slid one finger, then two, inside himself, touching the spongy, sensitive flesh around the rim, imagining Jake easing himself inside- 

He came embarrassingly quick after that, body convulsing and leaking more wet to soak into the boxer shorts that Jake had insisted he wear. 

Thace went limp, rubbing his face into the pillow with Jake’s scent and purring. He passed out like that, exhausted and feeling completely relaxed for the first time since landing on Earth, curled up in a nest of blankets that hid his open jeans. 

Which was good, because the slamming, creaky door was the only thing to let him know that Jake had gotten home. He was already in the door by the time Thace roused himself, and with his injuries, he wasn’t getting off the sofa quickly. 

So that was how Jake found him: tangled in blankets, smelling like musk that the human (hopefully) couldn’t identify, and pornography still playing on the television.

Well. That was awkward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is turning out longer than I thought it would. I can't write anything short. I've tried. Groan.
> 
> If anyone was wondering, Thace very much enjoyed Sesame Street, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, was absolutely baffled by Full House, and wondered what kind of substances were ingested during La Blue Girl and Legend of the Overfiend.


	3. Chapter 3

Yeah. Jake noticed.

He had a mostly boring day; the local population was pretty small and he had wound up with little to do. Mrs. K. had gone in for dialysis, but that had been it. 

Honestly, he was okay with that. His work life could stay normal and boring. 

That was because he had an alien sleeping on his couch. An honest-to-god, can’t-make-this-shit-up alien from outer space, had been eating his chickens. (And Jake blamed himself for that. He knew that Henrietta, Henry, Helena, Hennatori, Happy and Hooper were all escape artists and were always looking for new places to scratch. He should have kept an eye on the damn fence.) And now, his tall purple visitor from another planet had… apparently found his hentai and porn stash. 

Walking in to find Thace curled up in his blankets, wrapped around Jake’s pillow and looking sleepy and embarrassed while one of his older porn DVDs played on repeat was… 

His first inclination was to think that Thace hadn’t been affected like a human would be. That notion went out the window a moment later. Thace was almost always wary, muscles tense like he was about to run, even with his foot still healing. Now he looked content and relaxed as a rag doll, despite his ears twitching. 

The tall, well muscled, _very hot_ alien on his couch had been jerking off to his gay porn and was embarrassed about it.

Jake hoped he hadn’t stared too long when he walked over to the Blu-ray player and turned it off. He licked his lips before turning around, and hoped the blush on his face wasn’t too obvious. The room, he realized, smelled… interesting. Not quite what he was used to, when he went down on a guy, but, hm, nice. And he definitely was not getting an inconvenient boner right now.

Thace wouldn’t meet his eyes, but he hugged the pillow a little tighter. 

“I’m gonna go fix supper,” Jake said casually… or tried to say casually. He may have croaked a little. Okay, a lot. He wasn’t really able to make eye contact after that, instead heading to the kitchen and opening the fridge, staring blindly into it. He grabbed for the eggs, the sausage, and turned to the oven to set it to preheat. He could manage breakfast without thinking too much.

There was a faint whisper of noise- and Jake nearly jumped out of his skin to see Thace behind him. How someone _so large_ was able to move so quietly on jury-rigged crutches was fucking witchcraft. 

“I apologize.”

Jake blinked. “For what?” He stood there for a moment, trying to think. “Wash your hands, and sit at the table. You break the eggs. Put the white and the yolk in one bowl and you can keep the shells in another one.” He put the sausage beside the stove and grabbed three bowls and set two on the table along with a basket of eggs. Thace moved to follow his instructions.

“I clearly have made you uncomfortable.” He sounded more concerned about Jake’s distress than his own. “That was… not my intention.”

“Humans are kinda weird about that kind of thing,” Jake said. He modeled how to break the eggs as Thace sat down, who nodded, copying the motion. “I… um… it’s considered private. Just kinda embarrassed you found it.”

Now Thace shook his head. “Humans are not the first species to create pornography.”

“You don’t say?” 

“But I apologize. I shouldn’t have gone looking through your things without your permission.”

And now Jake laughed. “I told you, you could watch my DVDs.” His ears were red. “Just… Uh… I kinda… Geeze.” He rocked back and forth before grabbing for his good cast-iron skillet, putting it on the stove, and turned on the heat. He started squeezing the sausage out of its casing. “How the hell do I explain this shit?”

“Is talking about your sex practices taboo?”

“Uh.” Jake sighed. “Depends on the practice. Got a lot of baggage, especially around here.” He hunched his shoulders, slapping the sausage into the skillet. “There’s a lot of religions that try to, well, stop people from following their natural inclinations. Now, I ain’t gonna tell nobody that they can’t believe what they want. I like to think God don’t care how you pray, just so you do. But some folks think that gives ‘em the right to tell people who you fuck and how. And when you don’t follow their approved rules,” and Jake looked down at the sausage as it fried, “Talking about it is kinda dangerous and you get used to hiding things.”

He didn’t see Thace, just heard him keep cracking the eggs. “Hm. That is…”

Jake looked back at him. “Hell, the government has laws saying its okay. I can marry a man if I want. But when you’re out in the boondocks like around here? You keep things to yourself because you see your neighbor every day.”

Thace met his eyes. Jake gave him a lopsided grin- and Thace promptly ducked away.

“But don’t feel sorry about it. It’s fine.” The sausage was almost finished, so he grabbed some paper towels to put the meat on to drain, keeping the grease and grabbing the flour from the cupboard above the stove’s hood. He put that down, and reached into the fridge again for a tin of biscuits. “Just used to staying quiet about it. Joe’s a real Born Again type and, well, there’s _alotta_ reasons we don’t talk.” 

“Ah,” Thace said. Paused. “You are sexually attracted to animated characters? And that is taboo?”

Jake dropped the biscuit tin, choking, before turning it into a laugh. He laughed so hard his knees gave out. He laughed so hard his ribs flat out hurt, until he was breathless, gasping, and Thace had hopped over to kneel beside him.

“Nah. You can jack off to the most ridiculous, gravity-defying boobs or lack of a rib cage, and so long as it’s not the same sex you are, it’s okay around here,” he said, trying not to wheeze. 

“Ah.” Thace braced himself on the counter and pushed himself up, and offered a hand to help Jake. Jake took it, marveling at how strong he seemed. “I can understand being reluctant to talk about things that are taboo.” Thace didn’t let go of his hand immediately, and the smell coming off of him made Jake want to lean in and just breathe. “But, as I have said. You are much better person than me.”

Jake found himself squeezing Thace’s hand back. “Thanks. Just. Um.”

“We don’t have the same kind of taboos.” Thace looked away from him then, and let their hands drop, then hobbled back to the table. “But I did see something many times,” he asked as he sat down. He pointed at his face. “Why do you keep putting your mouths together?”

Jake chuckled, but he didn’t mind this part so much. “It’s called a kiss. We got a lot of nerve endings in our lips. I mean, our babies like to use their mouths to touch things more than their hands. So you kiss someone, it feels good.” 

Thace hummed. Then he went back to cracking eggs. 

It wasn’t until much later that he realized that Thace had successfully distracted him from asking about why _Thace_ was embarrassed.

~*~*~*~*~

It was early morning as he wandered through his chores, making sure his chickens got their pellets and some leftover veggies from the night before.

He was used to being followed by his hens, who clucked and generally were disapproving of Princess, who would sneeze and laugh right back. But he was suddenly quite aware of Thace watching him through the window. 

He was also quite aware that he wasn’t wearing a shirt at that moment, just his old jeans, which were ripped in the knees and falling over his boxers. 

It had been happening often lately. He didn’t sense anything untoward by it. Just… curiosity. And appreciation. It made Jake feel naked, but in a good way.

In his mind’s eye, he tried to imagine Thace touching himself, wondered what it would be like to touch back. To get to feel his skin and fur and- and- 

Fuck he was grateful that Thace hadn’t found the old furry porn on his beat-up laptop.

~*~*~*~*~

“You just red shelled me?” Jake yowled as he fell off the track, and turned to glare at Thace, who had somehow managed to keep a completely straight face… save for his ears, which had flicked forward. “You just red-shelled me!”

“It seems so,” he said, and Jake was reminded of a smug, pleased cat. 

Jake took a swig of his beer. “You realize this means war, right?”

And now the smile turned evil. “Prepare for defeat then, human.” And _that_ sent chills down his spine. But let it never be said that Jake Kogane ever backed down from a fight. Especially with sexy purple aliens who happened to be bundled up in blankets on a chilly winter night and who just _barely_ understood what a console was.

“Your ass is grass,” Jake vowed. 

An hour later and Thace was huffing, ears back, and Jake crowed in victory. He leaned down, face a few inches away from the alien’s. “What do I win?”

Thace blinked, and Jake could see his throat work as he swallowed, before he reached up, covering Jake’s face with his palm and pushing him back. “Another round?”

~*~*~*~*~

Jake had quit smoking, officially, right after Becky had been born. He thought, if he was going to be a good uncle, he should make sure he was healthy and able to follow where they went.

Didn’t mean he didn’t have an emergency pack in the cupboard above the emergency bottle of Jack he kept in the freezer.

Princess had seen him in these moods a few times. Thace hadn’t.

He didn’t ask why Jake was sitting out on the back porch with a burning thing between his fingers. He didn’t come outside with him, because it was a clear sunny day and he might be seen. But he did slide down the inside wall just beside the door, and sat there, waiting.

“Went down to visit Momma,” he offered after a few moments. “Today is her birthday, see, and… Took her some flowers. She liked sweet peas.” He took a long drag. “Someone had knocked over her tombstone.” Another puff. “How do you honor your dead?”

“In the past, we interred their ashes at family shrines,” Thace said quietly. He left it there. 

“Some humans do that, too.” Another deep puff. “Ran into Joe. Said it was my fault.”

“Yes, because you obviously disrespect the memory of your parents,” Thace said, and snorted. “You know it was not.”

“Maybe?” No one had spray painted anything on her grave, but… 

“Do not blame yourself. I have seen you do nothing wrong, Jake. You are a good person.” He spoke fiercely. “And you did not deserve what he said.”

The stub of his cigarette glowed as he took one last, long drag and put it out, then leaned over to let Idjit and Dumbass rush for the cigarette stub. Silly critters loved it.

He got to his feet, walking towards the door. Thace was just inside, his crutch propped on the wall and with his bum foot stretched out in front of him. Jake settled down, cross-legged, shoulder-to-shoulder, thigh-to-thigh, just breathing in Thace’s scent. 

He wasn’t quite sure when their fingers had threaded together; he was, however, very aware of stroking his thumb against Thace’s palm. He was aware of Thace tossing small looks at him, even if his expression was still and unchanging. _Then_ he was aware of Thace leaning down and bumping their mouths together.

“What was that?” Not that Jake didn’t have a good guess.

His ears twitched back and forth. “A… kiss?”

Jake found himself smiling. “ _This_ is how you kiss,” he whispered, letting go of Thace’s hand, and getting to his knees so they were more level, and tangling his fingers through Thace’s hair. He slowly brushed their lips together, tonguing open his mouth, enjoying the subtly different texture and taste. His other hand was on Thace’s shoulder to keep himself steady. 

He was aware of Thace purring, his thick paws clutching at Jake’s belt. His breath came in soft gasps, as he pulled away and- oh, shit. His side. “Thace, you okay?”

Thace’s eyes fluttered, before nodding and licking his lips. “Not bad, but… You taste terrible.” He reached down, grabbing his pack of Marlboros. “Like these things.” His nose wrinkled in disapproval. 

Jake felt something well up in his heart that he hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel as if I should apologize, because this is my 'write it late at night and random moments because I want kinda cute and fluffy and WHY IS IT SO LONG NOW story.' But I have a goal of finishing this one on the quick side. Thanks for all the encouragement!


	4. Chapter 4

Thace didn’t get much out of the kiss, if he were honest. It was pleasant caress, and watching the effect it had on Jake was more than worth it. Seeing him smile and come back from the dark place he had been… more than worth it.

But when Jake stroked the side of his face, he heard himself _mew_ , closed his eyes and leaned into Jake’s hand all at once. 

When he opened them again, Jake was somehow between his splayed legs, eyes wide and delighted. His long fingers, with their blunt, rounded nails, were hovering just over his left cheek. He looked like someone had just given him the best present of his life.

He still smelled like smoke, but it completely failed to cover his normal musk, which was warm and healthy and strong. It made Thace want to bury his face in Jake’s neck and lick. He felt his belly squirm even as his tits tingled and his cunt felt hot, wet, and open. It was completely different from before his body changed, like everything had rewired itself. 

He had been with others of his kind, but never someone who was broody, never wanted to risk siring children when he knew he couldn’t stay with them. He had enjoyed himself with his friends, but they were well aware they could all die tomorrow, so they hadn’t tried for more than quick, almost impersonal stress relief.

And the less said about his ‘superior officers’ the better. 

“May I touch you again?” Jake asked, a little breathless and excited and so damn cute that the air froze in Thace’s lungs and this was _madness_. He had no business wanting to roll to his hands and knees, or to open his legs so Jake could mount him. 

He was going to have to _leave_ as soon.

But he couldn’t say no. Not now. Not when it made Jake so happy to scratch through his mane, to push up Thace’s shirt to stroke his fur, to trace his abs, carefully skirting the clean bandage covering the stitches in his side. He let Jake pull off his shirt, dropping it to the linoleum floor, meeting Thace’s eyes as he reached up to touch Thace’s nipples, making Thace sigh, then trill when he laved one with his wet, smooth tongue. He couldn’t stop the mewls and sighs and groans, more sounds of encouragement for Jake to keep going.

He didn’t want to stop, didn’t want _Jake_ to stop. 

He whimpered when Jake finally did, and he managed to uncross his eyes long enough to look into Jake’s face: flushed, lips swollen, eyes dilated and smiling. “Is that good? You like that?”

Thace tried to find words. They were very hard to find right then. “Yeah?”

Jake kissed him quickly. “Want to move someplace more comfortable?”

Thace traced his tongue over his teeth, thinking, then nodding. A soft surface would be welcome, even if his knees were weak right then. “Help me up.”

Thace watched Jake stand… and pursed his lips. The front of his jeans were tented, and… hm. Hm. Thace was not in the least bit unhappy with what was suggested.

It took some work to get Thace to his feet, what with Jake touching his chest, his ass, but bracing him on his uninjured side. There were short pauses, so Jake could steal a kiss or to stroke Thace’s face. 

Jake’s room was small, but so was most of the house, and showed its age. The curtains were billowing in the afternoon light from the warped windows, with the walls being cracked and bare, save for a few more crude, colorful pictures that he guessed were from Jake’s family. A basket of clean, folded clothes was beside the closet. There was a bed, and a dresser and that was it. Granted, the bed took up most of the space… and it was _almost_ long enough for Thace. 

Jake paused. “You… you okay with this? I mean, I want to have sex with you.” He gave Thace’s ass a gentle squeeze, and Thace sighed. “You want that too?”

Thace should stop this. This was going too far. He should tell Jake that the kissing and touching were nice, but they shouldn’t let it go further. It was too much. He shouldn’t let himself become so involved with an alien, because it would mean heartbreak for them both.

But instead he leaned down and kissed Jake again, hopping to the bed and sitting down. “Yes,” he whispered. He reached out, running one hand over the front of Jake’s pants. “I want you to fuck me.” So much. To have his Jake, his kind, sweet Jake, filling him up and filling him full-

Jake groaned, easing him backwards on to his elbows, reaching for the button, then the zipper of Thace’s jeans, working them down Thace’s hips with his boxer shorts. He busied his mouth by finding Thace’s tits again, and Thace gasped, running his fingers through Jake’s hair before squirming further up the bed and kicking off his remaining clothing and…

Jack pulled back, settling between Thace’s knees and kneeling himself. His expression turned curious, glancing up at Thace’s face before letting his hands glide lower, over his sheath and the small nub of his cock, which had shrunk to almost nothing now that his body had changed. 

“You keep your… gonads… inside?”

Thace nodded- they always had been, for all of his species- and watched Jake’s curiosity as he continued down to find his pussy, watching him purse his lips. “Y’mentioned that once past a certain age, your kind change..?”

Thace’s ears twitched and he nodded. “I’m… earlier, than most others.” He didn’t like how he had sounded- ashamed and embarrassed- before Jake was pressing his lips to Thace’s belly, just below his navel. “It happened… just before I came to Earth.”

“Huh.” Jake’s fingers, blunt tipped, long and rough, traced down the crease of his thigh to slide over the folds. “You want me to fuck you here?”

Thace shuddered, and nodded as Jake started to ease his fingers inside. He stopped, tracing along his inner walls, and Thace fell back to his elbows. He was afraid if he tried touching back right now he might crush Jake’s head. “You ever been with someone, here, like this?”

Thace blinked, realized he had fisted the bed covers, and shook his head. 

Jake nodded to himself, his expression gentle as he moved his fingers in an out. “Hm. Been with a human before?”

Thace snorted. “Have you been with a Galra?”

Jake chuckled. “No.” But Thace could see him filing the information away for later, but for the most part he was intent on Thace’s face, watching his chest and abs and legs flutter and twitch, drinking in every startled moan or mew. “Tell me what you like. Cause, I figure if the kissing thing isn’t quite for you, but this,” and he dug in right under Thace’s jaw, startling him into a whimper, “is good, I might miss some things if I just get started.”

“You are doing fine so far,” Thace answered. Jake’s fingers were strong and clever, stroking inside him- not quite enough, not yet- but it was enough to put a fire in his belly. Enough to make him want to draw Jake up to him, to make him want to beg to _get on with it._

“Human guys, just touching the head,” and he pulled his wet fingers free of Thace’s body, flooding the room with his scent, before tracing the tip of Thace’s cock, “can be enough. Do you get more out of this, or inside?”

“Inside,” he said, immediately, and let his ears twitch in embarrassment. Because… because he wasn’t _supposed to be enjoying this_. He shouldn’t have enjoyed having an alien play with his body, shouldn’t have come almost as soon as Jake added a third finger and crooked them, finding whatever he had been searching for. He shouldn’t have gone limp, purring and content, watching as Jake stripped off his clothing.

Being mounted after changing was supposed to hurt, to tear, to be humiliating. Submitting to an alien was unthinkable.

He shouldn’t have been so happy to feel Jake’s weight against his thighs, the head of his cock sliding through his slick. But it felt so _good_ to have that pressure, the great emptiness being filled with something thick and hot. 

“You are a hella lot tighter than I expected,” Jake grunted. His face was a brilliant red, with water forming beads along his hair line. “I mean, you are a tall guy and-“ he shifted his hips, pulling back and then thrusting in, making Thace sigh. He lifted one of Thace’s legs for a better angle. “Expected-“

He was speaking too much- no. Not just speaking. _Babbling_. Jake was just as nervous as he was.

“Feels good,” Thace offered, barely above a whisper. He combed his fingers through Jake’s hair, and noted that it was as smooth as it looked. “I like it.” He ran his tongue over his teeth, letting it bring him back enough to touch Jake’s shoulders and hitch his legs around Jake’s waist. His side ached, but it was in the background, easily ignored. He pressed their faces together, closing his eyes. “Happy I’m with you.”

 _That_ made Jake redouble his efforts, angling himself so that his cock dragged over _just the right spot_ , making Thace come again, convulsing and clenching down on Jake’s cock. In turn, Jake let out a hoarse shout, continuing to move for several more thrusts, before burying his face in Thace’s chest and shooting his seed inside Thace: hot, slimy, painting the opening to his womb.

And finally he felt _satisfied_. 

“Fuck- sorry!” Jake yelped. He pulled out, and Thace swallowed down another whimper, pulling him close again. He was already losing his erection. “Um- ah-“

Thace kissed him, moaning into it, then laved his tongue down Jake’s neck to nibble. 

“Happy,” he said again. Because even if he had no business feeling like this, he was. Spirits damn it all- he was stuck on a tiny backwater planet, injured and hiding, and this might only last for a few moments. 

But there was a soft buzzing in his chest that had nothing to do with purring. He had someone looking at him like he was worthy, that his life had meaning. That he wasn’t some sort of monster to him. Pleasant aftershocks still pulsed through his body, like his womb was trying to drink in as much of Jake’s seed as possible. 

He was _happy_ , and he didn’t deserve a drop of it.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Jake got up to get a washcloth to clean them both up, and stopped at the edge of the bed for a moment to take his lover in.

He wasn’t quite sure what a debauched alien would look like. But he did look thoroughly, completely at ease, relaxed, like his bones were turned to water. His slick was faintly off white, almost indistinguishable from Jake’s come. He was purring, something he had done while healing for the three days he was unconscious. (And had nearly made Jake jump out of his skin when it had happened.) But this time it was low and slow as syrup. 

He settled down beside Thace, cleaning him with quiet strokes then refolded the cloth to clean himself. He was about to get up again, when Thace grabbed him from behind to drag him close, burying his face in Jake’s neck, teeth pricking the skin as he started to lick him again.

Listening to Thace’s purr get deeper as his rough tongue rasped down over his skin to his shoulder, Jake thought that he had not been wrong when he said he had been looking for a big cat. 

He held still as Thace touched him, tongue and fingers both. He seemed curious about his neck, his armpits, touching the hair on his chest and arms and legs. His fingernails- well, they reminded him more of Princess’s claws- were pointed but not as sharp as they looked, but they threatened to make him laugh as they passed over places he had forgotten were ticklish. He lingered over the burns scars that were covered by his Japanese tat, a koi pond that was, and would ever be, only half finished because he couldn’t afford more. He dragged the tips of his fingers over shrapnel scars, dug out years when he had tried to save a friend from walking on a IED. He somehow found the surgery scar from when Jake had been eight and needed his appendix out. 

Thace didn’t ask any questions, though. He just tried to cuddle Jake closer.

Jake, though… “Why are you here?” The question had hung over him ever since Thace had dragged him to the road.

The purring stopped. “Do you mean, what am I, Thace, doing here? Or what is an alien doing on Earth?” 

“Both. Neither. Just…” He could feel Thace’s mane on his shoulder. “Please tell me.” 

“The purpose of my journey here was to find a super weapon that had been left here before your people had built their first cities,” Thace said after a moment, his voice right in Jake’s ear. “The Emperor of my people has sought it for ages. Ten thousand years, by our reckoning.” He shifted, and Jake took his hand and laced their fingers together. “I, and my comrades, seek to deny him his prize. For the sake of all creation, he must not find it.” He breathed out, and Jake shivered as the enormity of those words hit him. 

“So why are you here? Alone?”

“Searching for it has always been considered a fool’s errand. But we had reports… and I needed to run away.” He shifted, and Jake found himself almost unable to breathe as Thace’s arms tightened. “I had been a spy in Emperor Zarkon’s military command for most of my adult life. But even after doing many, many things for the sake of my position, becoming broody meant… subjecting myself to something I feared I could not endure.”

Jake squeezed his hand. “Thace.”

“I should not be telling you this.” He felt, more than heard, his humorless laugh. “I should have rejected your help.”

“You weren’t in any shape for that,” Jake cut in. “You’d be dead and on a dissection table at the Garrison.”

“I know. And I cannot repay you.”

“No charge. You’re trying to save the universe.”

“You have no reason to believe me.”

“I’m a pretty good judge of character.”

Thace nipped his ear a little harder than was needful. “Yeowch! Okay! _And_ you’re beautiful.”

“You are addled.” Now he sounded flustered, Jake flopped over to see him, head half-buried in the pillow as his ears flicked downwards. “Or mad.”

“What, I can’t call it like I see it?” Jake found his smile coming back. “Because you’re strong but not too bulky, you got nice shaped cheekbones and nose, and your jaw is, well, heroic. I like your color.” He ran a hand over Thace’s bare shoulder, down his arm and chest. “You feel smooth and soft and I like touching you.”

And if he had been human, Jake was pretty damn sure that Thace would either be hitting him with a pillow or so red he could be seen from space. “Are you considered ugly, for a…” What was the word Thace had used? “A Galra?”

“No, but… having a pleasing face has been an asset, over the years. Still… I am an alien to you. Why would that be attractive?”

“Just told you. And you’re smart, have a dry sense of humor, and Princess likes you.” 

Thace reached out to pet his hair. “Of course. Princess’s judgement is final.” They both shared a smile.

“And doesn’t explain why you helped me. I was there to run you off.”

“Someone would have come looking for you.”

“No they wouldn’t,” Jake said, heavily. “Not for a long, long time.” He reached out, and Thace took his hand again. “And I’m not the most handsome guy out there.”

Thace stared at him like he was mad. “You are… a worthy mate. You are pleasing to look at, you have been unfailingly kind-“ he stopped and took a deep breath. “I feel safe,” he admitted. “With you.” He squeezed Jake’s hand and reached out to brush over Jake’s face. 

They kissed, soft and sweet, and Jake’s cock perked back up. He blushed as Thace reached down to take it in his hands- he was carefully using his palm and the pads of his fingers, notably _not_ the talons- and stroke the length to full hardness.

He seemed interested in the foreskin in particular, watching it move over the head and the shaft. 

“Does it work for you?” Jake asked, clenching his teeth and hissing as Thace stroked upwards. “Did the job?”

“Yes,” Thace said emphatically. He pressed their faces together before pushing Jake onto his back and swinging himself up and over to straddle his waist, before sinking down on to Jake’s erection. “And I want more.”

~*~*~*~*~

Jake almost called in sick to blow off work. But, he had burned up a lot of his sick days already to take care of Thace, and he was skating on thin ice already with his crew. He needed his job, needed his insurance, and needed the contact with people who weren’t painfully attractive, horny aliens to keep himself grounded.

But it had been _hella_ long time since he had gotten laid. And it showed, everyone asked him why he was smiling, happy, and upbeat when he had been tense as hell for the past couple of months. (He had to admit, being back on duty without the sling helped. Deskwork was dull) He got some good-natured ribbing, people asking him who the lucky guy was, if he had enjoyed the weekend, and so on. He turned his brain off, ignored the questions, smiled and said he had just had a good night.  
They didn’t really seem to believe him. But he could ignore that, too. 

He was pretty good at ignoring things. Like how, whatever the hell this was, it probably wouldn’t last.

So he went by the store on his way home, bought food, went in and focused on _enjoying_ Thace’s company. Because he was in love with an honest-to-god- _damn_ alien, who smiled at him shyly from his seat on the sofa next to his dog, who wagged her tail and whined at him.

“Ah, who’s my girl?” he said, dropping to one knee so Princess could come over and get her scritches and loves and belly rubs. She writhed on the floor in joy, tongue hanging out and yipping.

She did get tired of it after fifteen minutes, leaving him with a fine coat of shed hair as he got to his feet again. He walked over plop down on the sofa beside Thace. “You hungry?”

He leaned down, and showed Jake _exactly_ how much better he had gotten at kissing while cupping the front of Jake’s pants.

“Not for food.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not very good at writing porn, even if I write it a great deal. Sigh.


	5. Chapter 5

The next month passed both too quickly and slow and lazy, moments stretching out like syrup. (He discovered that he rather liked syrup. The discovery of buttered waffles and sausage in maple syrup had been a revelation.)

Thace was able to enjoy it if he didn’t think too hard. His life had been full of dark intrigues, betrayals, fear and distrust. Being able to sit in a simple room filled with warm sunlight, watching a ridiculous show about a girl who used linguistic superpowers against a sapient sandwich man while a large, furry quadrupedal animal sat below him, luxuriating in that he hadn’t put his pants back on from where Jake had eaten him out that morning, with a full stomach and the quiet sounds of Jake’s house… he hadn’t been this content since he was a youngling.

His foot was healing cleanly- Jake had looked at it this morning, before indulging in the eating out- and soon he would start getting his strength back. Soon it would be time to think about something he used children’s educational programing to not think about.

He absently stroked Princess’s head, scratching her ears as she twitched in her sleep. She had been clingy, lately, following him around the house when Jake wasn’t there. (She had, more than once, brought in parts of dead animals. He had eaten most of them without comment, and without telling Jake of Princess’s habits, or their shared affinity for fresh meat.) 

But she looked rounder than he remembered. Her nipples (and it was interesting that so many species on this planet also produced milk for their offspring) were far more prominent than they had been, and flushed pink.

She seemed content, though, her tail smacking the floor. Other than sharing his lethargy, and following him around, she had not seemed ill. In fact, if he were to make a guess…

He pursed his lips. “Have you let your human know that you are whelping soon?” he asked her. “You know that he would want to know. He might even feed you real meat instead of the kibble.”

She opened one blue eye, smiled, panted, and closed it again.

He scratched her ears once more, and she beat the floor harder. “Well.” He let his hands pass over her rounding middle. “Hard to stop when you need it, isn’t it?” He had no idea when she would have found a mate- he assumed that her kind used sexual reproduction- but Jake allowed her to range far more freely than his other animals. (He had explained about the chickens escaping, and Thace had had the grace to be a little ashamed, but, in turn, free food had wandered into his camp. Jake had laughed.) 

Jake had answered that he had put up a fence, had tried leashing her, but she had bitten through the lead and could jump like no one’s business and dig like a back-hoe. Princess ruled herself. 

She rolled on to her belly- when she was upright, her state of roundness was almost unnoticeable- and climbed onto the couch with him.

He hissed, wincing when she bumped his belly. “Careful,” he murmured. She whined, licking him, and he grimaced at the sour sore queasy feeling that started below his navel. (And that had been something of a surprise to Jake, muttering about how strange it was that they were both apparently placental mammals. The similarities between their species were genuinely uncanny at times.)

He wondered if his hunger from the past week was finally catching up with him. The first time he had encouraged (he wouldn’t used ‘seduced,’ it was too loverly, and ‘asked’ implied more desperation than he wanted to admit) Jake to mate with him, he had felt… hunger: for food, for touch of any kind, and for Jake to fuck him on every flat surface of the house. 

Jake had obliged: putting food out in front of him, curling up with him in his nest on the sofa and needing almost no encouragement to mount him, or to push him into a wall or to sit him on the table. Jake had seemed to enjoy all of it; the human relished in taking care of Thace. Thace, despite himself, had soaked it up and tried to give back what he could. (Jake genuinely appreciated it when Thace was vocal, and Thace had gotten more and more shameless at giving him whimpers and moans and praise, even if it had been a little strange at first.)

He hadn’t been able to eat all of his breakfast that morning, something that had caused Jake some alarm. Thace usually ate at least two plates of food, and today he had barely finished one. The feeling of being _off_ , not quite right, had risen to become that queasy, sore ache, just below the feeling of contentment that permeated the room. He didn’t even realize he was hugging Princess and Jake’s pillow until Princess licked his face, whining in her throat.

“I think I’ll be okay,” he said, because he didn’t think whatever was wrong would kill him. But he still felt a bit bereft when she got up and left for her food dish.

He sighed, pulling his pants on and grabbing his crutch. He felt odd. Suddenly, the comfortable bright room felt too open. He hefted up the blankets he had been curled up in- they still smelled like Jake and himself- along with the pillows and limped down the short hall to Jake’s room.

Too bright, still, but it smelled better, and felt safer. 

He didn’t realize he was stroking his belly while he looked at the closet. Jake didn’t have much in there, because the dresser was between it and the door and there wasn’t much room to get passed it. Thace had to crawl over the bed to get to it.

He slid open the door, and paused.

He wanted to curl up in there, with the blankets and pillows. He wasn’t sure why. Just that he wanted a place that was far from prying eyes and ears, someplace where he would be undisturbed when he needed it. 

His middle was sore, and when he reached up to touch his chest. That felt tender as well, feeling like it was about to burst if he pushed too hard. 

He blinked. Several times. Lowered himself to the mattress and stared at the threadbare carpet and old boots. 

He had given himself the contraceptive shot. And it hadn’t been… how long had it been? He tried to tally up time, but each planet had its own day and night cycles, and hours and days were different from vargas and quintents. He didn’t know, exactly, how long it had been since he had given himself the shot.

He hadn’t checked the expiration date, either. 

The Blade of Marmora members usually were killed before they became broody. That was to be expected when you lived a life of subterfuge and rebellion. So how long the contraceptives had been there… he had no idea. He hadn’t checked, just been so relieved to find them, that he had injected himself as soon as it was safe. He could have never been safe at all.

The other members of the Blade of Marmora would be _scandalized_. Even for a rebellion, the old taboo of sex with aliens held. 

There was a double standard, of course. Penetrating another, being dominant, was a crime that was mostly ignored. Appearance wise, any offspring that resulted were almost impossible to distinguish from the one who bore them. The sire could take what he wanted and there was almost no evidence otherwise.

But submitting to an alien? To willingly bare your shame to the universe, to have carried the filth of a weaker species inside you?

He recoiled from the thought as soon as it crossed his mind. _Shame_ was being forced to carry Prorok’s or Sendak’s, or, spirits help him, _Zarkon’s_ whelp against his will, and then using that whelp as leverage against his sire. _Filth_ was himself, because he had to be prepared to kill his own whelp to protect the Blades. 

Jake hadn’t forced him to do _anything_ , beside feel safe and… and loved. Being with his human had felt good, happy, without shame. Jake’s whelp was no filth, no matter if Thace himself was.

His hand started moving in a small circle over his belly, and he looked down at himself. No visible changes yet. He had some time to think about this. He could-

That was when he heard the sound of a vehicle pulling into up to the house. Thace twitched- what would Jake be doing home so early?- when he realized that it sounded nothing like the deep roar of Jake’s truck, but high and coughing, the engine whining from misuse.

He frowned. Outside, he could hear the animals going quiet… except for Princess. He could hear her deep, outraged snarl.

Badly maintained vehicle, made the animals afraid, and made Princess angry as hell. Not the Garrison, they were professionals. But not someone he knew, either.

He strained his ears. Jake usually locked the door after him- it was easily unlocked from the inside, it was to keep others out- when he left in the morning. Someone was putting a key into the lock, rattling it around.

He made out words being spoken, loudly, without any attempt to be subtle-

“My fag brother changed the lock,” a voice yelled, and Thace jumped. It was similar enough to Jake’s for him to feel… very uncomfortable. 

“He’s got a dead-bolt on it, and I ain’t gonna break a window to go in,” the voice went on. Thace couldn’t hear who he was talking to, but he guessed he was speaking into a phone. “It cost money to fix a window, you dumbasses. And I break a window or bust down a door he’ll know and come whup my ass _after_ he calls the police.” He paused, and then sighed. “Okay. I see- he’s got the curtains shut, but I hear the TV, sorta. It’s pretty low. Okay, I’ll check the others.”

Joe, Jake’s brother. Thace hissed and put the crutch on the floor. The window in Jake’s room was higher than the others, but the curtain wasn’t drawn. He dove into the closet, curled up on himself and slid the door shut.

There was quiet for a few moments, before he heard scrambling. And the sound of his own heart trying to beat out of his chest while he curled around himself, arms slung over his belly.

“There’s some clothes on the floor and the bed’s not made. Say what? How big? What the hell? Why do you care what his boyfriend’s inseam is?” More grumbling. “Okay, long. Probably about, what, four feet? That’s all I can tell!”

More shuffling, scrambling, as the voices moved away. He didn’t budge, though. He was someplace dark, hidden, warm and close. Safe. The whelp would be safe here, with him. He swallowed hard. 

“I can’t fit through the goddamn doggy door,” Joe protested… but he had obviously forgot that something else _could_.

The growl, that had been ignored up until then, suddenly turned into a snarl as the plastic flap that covered the dog door swung, and he heard Joe shriek, high and terrified. “Bitch! You little fucking bitch!” More scrambling, then a hiss and suddenly a yelp and a whine and the sound of the dog door flapping again. “That bastard’s dog bit me!”

Thace’s fingers clenched as he waited, waited for Joe to leave, listened to the engine drive off, and hoisted himself up, grabbing the crutch, limping as fast as he could to find Princess.

She was huddling under the kitchen table, pawing at her face and whining and crying and Thace wanted to do the same because his friend was hurting.

“Shh, let me look,” he whispered, just above a purr. He hoped it would soothe her. He had no idea. He eased himself down and crawled in after her. 

Her eyes and nose were tearing and running. His best guess was that Joe had used some chemical to inflict pain on her, to get her to stop attacking. He got up, reaching for a pan, and a pitcher, which he filled with water.

Trying to flush an upset dog’s eyes and face with water was a difficult task. She tried to run away, but he grabbed her by the scruff of the neck- he was easily strong enough to lift her- to hold her still. Continuing to do this one handed was really damn hard. But eventually he managed to flush enough of the toxin from her eyes that she started to calm down. 

“Good Princess, good girl,” he praised her. She whimpered again, and Thace went back to petting her. She even let him continue to run water over her face.

“It looks like your human’s brother is making trouble. And it wasn’t his idea to come,” he told her, even if she didn’t understand. He was aware of his belly, and it suddenly felt sour and clenched and he forced down the urge to wretch. If someone knew he was there, they would come and hurt him. Come for Jake, come for the whelp. But they were afraid to trespass directly.

In the back of his mind, he had always known he would have to leave Jake. Have to leave Earth. But now… things had gotten _so_ much more complicated.


	6. Chapter 6

Princess refused to move from under the table even after her eyes were clear, and Thace didn’t blame her for wanting to stay in her safe place. So he moved her water and food closer to her. Then he barricaded both doors after checking the locks, blocked the dog door, and made sure there were no artificial lights on to give away a silhouette. He almost turned off the television but the Happy Tree Man was on, and his voice was calming. Right now, Thace felt paranoid in a way he couldn’t articulate. The room was too big, even if he was constantly bumping his thighs on the table and chairs and counter and oven and- everything- because it was too narrow. The lights were all out, but it was still too bright. Jake’s scent was all over but-

He limped to the bathroom and to the laundry hamper, muttering to himself about his own foolishness, but he didn’t calm down until he had picked up one of Jake’s shirts and put it to his face, breathing deeply. 

He was utterly pathetic.

He was a Galra soldier, a Blade of Marmora. He had stolen information, lied, sabotaged entire fleets, and even committed murder to protect his cause. 

But it worked. The scent coming off the shirt eased his shattered nerves, making him feel safer. He wanted Jake there, to talk to, to touch him and to start making plans. 

A sweet, wishful fantasy played out in his mind: Jake and himself holding their son and watching him grow together, living a peaceful life. It was a dream that passed over him like a cloud blocking the sun. The wind of reality pushed it away.

He needed to find something to do before he went mad.

~*~*~*~*~

When Jake got off his shift that night, he couldn’t get the door open.

His shift had been… exciting. He had taken a teen to the hospital in active labor. Their parents were people he had gone to school with, who had fallen desperately in lust and then just as quickly fallen out before his friend had realized she was pregnant herself. 

He had started singing _The Circle of Life_ on his way home.

But now, he could get his key in and unlock it, no trouble, but something was keeping it barred. 

Nothing seemed to move for a moment, until he heard Princess whine and start scratching on the door. A loud scraping sound and a grunt followed that, and Jake counted to five before opening the door.

Thace had blocked the door with the sofa… which he was moving back into place. With lots of hopping involved.

Jake stepped inside quickly and closed the door. 

All of the lights were out; the only light he had was coming from the porchlight that leaked through the windows. He reached out, slapping at the light switch and grimacing when the light stung his eyes. 

Thace looked spooked. It was the only word that came to mind; his fur was dull, his ears were close to his head, and the muscles of his neck, shoulders and arms were taut as he pulled in all of his limbs to be ready to fight or flee. 

It was a far cry from Galra he had left his morning, still basking in afterglow, all limp as a rag doll, purring and smiling. “What’s wrong?”

Thace sat down, and Jake noted the lack of pillows and blankets. “A human came to the house to day. He had a key for the lock but it didn’t work.”

It took a second for him to process. “Joe?” He had changed the locks because Joe had stolen Momma’s good china a few months after she had died. “He knows I’d thrash him if he showed up. Why would he-“

“I believe someone had motivated him to. He didn’t want to damage the house, but he was trying to see if anything was different.” He hopped up, grabbing his crutch and limping into the kitchen. “Princess attacked him, but he used a toxin to make her stop.” 

His dog was sitting under the table, clearly believing no one saw her. 

“Shit.” He dropped to his knees in front of her. “Poor baby. You poor baby.” He started rubbing her over. “Your buddy took good care of you, didn’t he?” He looked up at Thace. “You cleaned her off?” 

Thace nodded. “It was not the least pleasant task I have ever had.” Mysterious as ever. Sigh. But then he looked discomfited. “I… I think she is pregnant.”

Jake’s head dropped. “Oh. Oh _shit_. I’m sorry, honey.” He rubbed her thick ruff as she licked his face. “I should have tried harder.”

“Pardon?”

Jake made a face, letting his hands move down her body, carefully palpating her belly. He was no vet, himself, but he thought he felt something. “I should have realized she would be going into heat. She was real young, when I found her. It’s been about two years now, so I shoulda guessed this would happen.” He sighed, and leaned to her ear. “You’ll be a good mommy though. I know you will,” he whispered. Louder, he spoke to Thace, “I tried to get her to the vet, but she _knows_. This girl understands what I say. She just thinks I’m too dumb to understand her back.”

Thace hummed, but he looked up to see him smiling. “My translator hasn’t picked anything, if that helps.”

Jake barked a laugh, and got to his feet, walking to the stove and lifted the lid. It smelled like taco meat. On top of the table (cleaned, he hoped) were plates, forks and knives (set horizontally, in front of the plates) and napkins were in a pile in the middle. Next to the meat was a tray of lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and shredded cheese, and the taco shells. “Huh. You’re learning.”

“You had it in the refrigerator and I needed something to do.” Thace’s ears were flattened, almost drooping, and he had threaded his hands together. “I hope it is palatable.”

“I’m sure it’s great.”

Thace suddenly swallowed. Exhaled. Opened his mouth. 

“Whelps- um.” He inhaled. “How long until Princess..?”

“Oh. About two months. Pretty short, all things considered.” He shrugged. “She’s a big dog so maybe longer. Bigger animals usually take longer.”

Thace folded down to sit at the table. “How long for humans?” he said, but his tone was… off. Forced casual. 

“Well, we’re bigger than dogs, so nine months.” And suddenly Thace coughed, doubling over, hugging his belly and looking horrified. 

“So long? How do you- how big are the whelps when they come out? How do their dams _survive_?”

Jake opened his mouth, and shut it. “Uh. Most people who are female sexed, usually their pelvic bone,” and he put his hands on his hips, “is pretty open and wider, to cradle the baby. I mean, how do you carry?”

Thace flinched. “Small.” He curled up his hand into a fist. “About half this size. Even then, it will still be painful and dangerous.”

That was… a lot smaller than he would have imagined. Not much bigger than the size of his own fist, and that… wow. “How much did you eat as a baby?”

Thace looked away, but his smile was real this time. “A great deal.” He exhaled. “Is your brother likely to come back?”

Jake bit his lip. “I don’t know.” He took a few moments, filling up both of their plates because, frankly, Thace’s foot was probably swollen because of all the moving he had done. He was concerned. “He might. If nothing else, my brother will keep at something he thinks will get him some easy money. But whoever did this might not want to use the same trick twice. They’re clever.”

Thace shifted. “The Garrison, most likely.”

Jake nodded. “I can’t think of anyone else.” He sighed, and spooned up the food. It smelled about right; Thace had seen him use a mix, and that was what Jake had on hand. Thace couldn’t read English yet, despite a few simple lessons on Jake’s days off. So… his ability to follow directions might be weak.

He put a plate in front of Thace, took a seat, picked up a taco and offered it to Thace to tap with his own in a toast, opened his mouth-

And realized that Thace was staring at him, not biting down just yet. Jake lifted his eyebrows, then let his teeth sink down and jaw close for a hearty bite.

He inhaled, continued chewing, and kept chewing until he swallowed that first bite. He looked up to see Thace looking so hopeful that… “Good,” he managed, and took another bite, plowing through it. He was only _slightly_ strangled. Just a bit.

Thace pushed his food around on his plate. “You are a terrible liar,” he said, but he was smiling ruefully, ears standing up. “Thank you.”

And just to prove him wrong, Jake scowled, ploughed through another taco, downed a glass of water, coughed, choked and wiped his tearing eyes. He got up and almost ran to the fridge, grabbing the milk and pouring is glass full and gulping _that_ down.

Thace sighed. “I’m sorry for that.” His ears twitched; he was definitely embarrassed. 

“It’s fine!” And that would have been a lot more convincing if he hadn’t been hoarse. He almost went for a third taco when Thace grabbed his wrist and chuckled, weakly.

“I’m sorry.” His voice was very, very soft. “The smell was making me queasy. So I tried to taste it and wretched before I could.”

~*~*~*~*~

_“Thace, if this bothered you, you didn’t have to cook.”_

The spoken answer was incomprehensible to human ears. The translator spat out something that equated to **YOU ( _second person singular pronoun, close proximity, equal, intimate relationship ie; friend/partner/beloved_ ) TACOS ( _noun, loanword, English_ ) LIKE ( _verb, enjoy, favor, non-sexual_ ) “You like tacos.”**

_“So do you. But not enough that I would risk you getting sick. You still feeling green?”_

The answer sounded vaguely amused, after all these weeks of listening. The translator supplied **I ( _humble, equal, casual_ ) PURPLE/VIOLET/MAUVE( _noun, meaning unclear, indicates eyes see further into the infrared/ultraviolet_ ) THINK/CONSIDER ( _verb, conditional_ ) IS. ( _be-verb_ ). “I think I’m purple.”**

Colleen Holt snorted softly as she listened, watching the translation and translator’s notes. 

_“Seriously.”_ And the bug caught the sound of a chair scraping and Kogane getting to his feet, and there was a fuzzy sound that reminded her of bristles. The alien filled the room with a deep rumble that reminded her a cat that had been scratched _just_ right. _“Want to try some tea? I think I got some of Momma’s old stuff, see if can help.”_

**“I will be all right. Please don’t be concerned.”**

The door of her monitoring station opened, and Commander Iverson walked in to stand beside her desk chair. “Anything to report, Holt?”

Colleen pulled the headphones she had been wearing. The bugs in Kogane’s house and the computers at Garrison HQ would keep recording regardless. “Well, they both suspect we sent Joe. But neither of them have acted aggressively, except for the dog. And she didn’t react until Joe got very close to the alien.” 

The Garrison had been monitoring the alien quietly ever since that strange 911 call over two months prior; the one where Jacob Kogane had been speaking to someone who spoke no language ever recorded on earth, but seemed to understand every word. That alone wouldn’t have been especially remarkable… save for the odd carvings in the desert several miles away, that emitted an energy that was definitely _there_ f but had defied understanding. 

Part of the reason for the Garrison was to try to understand what it was. They had precious little success. 

Until an alien had tried to get on to their property.

If they hadn’t been studying the anomaly for years, he might have gone undetected. But they had, and that was what tipped them off that the intruder was no mere human. One of their guards had panicked and shot at him, meaning that any attempts at peaceful contact were gone. The guard had been wounded in turn by a sword (a sword! Who brought swords to gun fights?) but not killed outright, even if he was still in the hospital.

That Jake Kogane, ex-military, ex-Garrison, actual sweetie pie and honest to god hard-headed, stubborn mule had taken in the alien that had, to all appearances, saved his life… well, it saved them the trouble of trying to find a way to bring down the alien’s guard. It just meant that they had to try to ascertain the alien’s intentions from afar.

So they had taken a gamble. Outright invading the Kogane property would put the Garrison in trouble with law enforcement; they were paramilitary, but they didn’t have any extralegal authority to invade a private residence. Getting permission would mean letting more than a handful of people know about their discovery. The media found out what happened? They might not actually get the chance to _talk_ to the alien.

So they had sent Joe in, when Kogane wasn’t there, to try to flush the alien out. If he ran, they would catch him. If Joe was killed, they would have a legal reason to search Kogane’s property. Not entirely ethical, and done strictly off the books… but no one cared about Joe. 

Small towns meant _everyone_ knew what he did to his wife. 

“In fact, if the thermal imaging is correct, the alien hid,” Colleen said softly. “He’s still healing, so he couldn’t have really run anyway.”

Iverson grunted. 

“If I may, sir, I don’t think Thace- the alien- is a threat.”

Iverson sighed. “We can’t know that he’s not manipulating Kogane some way-“

“I knew Jake since he was a kid, sir.” She ran her hands through her hair. “He took in birds that fell out of trees and cried when someone stepped on ladybugs. He’s not doing anything he wouldn’t do normally.” Her voice softened. “I haven’t heard him sound so happy in years.”

Iverson groaned. “Unfortunately, this isn’t some gay rom-com, and ascribing human motivations to an alien is dangerous. He could be just waiting to strike.”

Colleen chuckled, but she sounded sad. “Well. He’s not tried to move or leave the house, and he’s recovering. Both know that they can’t keep up the hot xeno sex forever. When he tries to leave, we catch him.” Even if the idea did rub her the wrong way.

Iverson nodded. “I’ll let the extraction team know to use non-lethal force.” He rubbed his hands together, a humorless smile crawling across his face. “I want his ship. Let’s find out who these bastards are.”

Colleen saluted as he left.

Which she promptly turned into a flipped bird once the door was closed. 

She sighed, picking up the headphones. They were almost placed over her ears when she recognized the sounds- grunts, squeaks from an old mattress, whispered words of affection, joyous profanity, hiccupping sobs of pleasure mixed with purrs- and put it down again. 

Even if she had heard this _dozens_ of times now, along with the other techs, it always felt wrong to be intruding. She didn’t hear an alien and some poor sap who was harboring him. She heard two fools in love, and who were good for each other. 

She bit her lip. 

She had to decide what to do about it.

~*~*~*~*~

Thace purred, head buried in his crossed arms, ass up in the air, knees spread, head tilted back and his eyes shut. Jake’s cock filled his pussy, stroking over _just that right spot_ , making him whimper and sob with each pass. His strong, blunt fingers squeezed Thace’s waist, almost enough to bruise, as his hips slapped Thace’s thighs.

It wasn’t the same hunger, the same need, but his stomach fluttered all the same. “Harder,” he called, licking his lips. “More, Jake. Please give me more.”

His human pressed, speeding up until the bed was clapping and clattering against the wall, breath coming in short grunts. 

In his mind’s eye, he could see himself in a short time; belly curved outwards, dragging on the bedsheets. Still like this, still submitting and letting Jake have him, still willing to give his body to this fragile human. Not just one, no. A full litter of small humans in his belly. Heavy, warm, and seeing Jake so happy as he gave birth-

He came with a high whine, fisting the covers as his body shook… but Jake hadn’t. And that wasn’t good enough.

“If you could,” Thace asked, almost unable to breathe, “breed me?”

And Jake went still. “What?”

“If you could breed me, would you want to?” Thace asked, face covered, unable to look back at him. “Fill me up?” He could feel Jake’s fingers tightening on his hips, pulling back slightly. “Put a whelp in me?”

Jake shuddered, and Thace felt his cum splash inside him, sloppy and wet, leaking out as his hips jerked a few more times before going still again. 

Thace almost smiled. Almost. The space was occupied already, after all. 

“Shit, Thace,” Jake whispered, pulling out. “That- um.” Thace rolled over on to his back while Jake stretched out beside him, grabbing for a towel. “That’s quite a-“ he could see the blush rolling off Jake’s face. “Geeze.”

“Hm. You like the idea.”

Jake coughed and laughed. “Yeah, but, um.” He sighed “Not happening, right?”

Thace took a breath. “…No.”

Jake’s sigh was disappointed. He missed Thace’s flinch when he stroked Thace’s chest, over his tits to draw a circle over his belly, around his navel. “Too bad.”

Thace nodded, drawing Jake close, tucking him under his chin. “Yes.”

Too bad.


	7. Chapter 7

Jake _had_ missed the flinch. But he had noted that Thace, who had grit his teeth and been silent through wounds that might have sent a grown human into shock, was coddling his belly… and it would have taken a blind man for him to miss the pile of blankets and pillows in his closet.

The next morning, Thace went green around the gills at Jake’s proposed breakfast of biscuits, gravy, eggs, sausage and some fruit. Usually, Thace would all but wallow in his plate, enthusiastically eating whatever was put there. That morning, however, Jake revised the menu to dry toast, warmed beef broth and some ancient ginger tea from way, way back in the pantry. 

He came home that evening to find Thace asleep in his closet, face buried in his work pants.

Now, Jake Kogane could be a stubborn, hard-headed bastard sometimes, but even he recognized when something was off. Up until two weeks ago, Thace had been getting his energy back, had a hearty appetite for sex, food, conversation and cuddles. Now, instead of waking Jake up in the middle of the night, or following Jake into the shower, he had left Jake alone. He had been more than willing after supper, but it hadn’t been the frantic, needy fucking from before.

Jake had tried to be careful to let Thace initiate, chose when and how often they slept together, because while Thace could probably tear his spine out when he was healthy, he depended a hell of a lot on Jake right now. He didn’t want Thace to feel pressured or that he owed Jake sex. So, he said nothing about it. Just kept his eyes and ears open.

He had tried not to ask Thace a lot of personal questions, mostly because he didn’t think that Thace would answer them. Jake figured that, if he pushed too hard, all it would do would make Thace turn his back in distain or run away. Like any cat, you had to make yourself small, harmless, and still. Keep your fingers outstretched, but just out of reach. Curiosity would draw the cat to you. Or not. No one ruled a cat.

Jake pursed his lips, thinking as he got the feed out for Dumbass and Idjit, who were both trying to eat his pants. He had given them some of his old socks the other day and they were already gone. His old, holey jeans would soon follow if he wasn’t careful.

Thace had been acting odd ever since Joe’s odd appearence. Now he just had to figure out if that was correlation or causation, right there. Because the guy wasn’t just an alien, he was an alien secret agent spy guy. His nerves should have been able to handle Jake’s pitiful drunk of a brother.

His mind flashed to finding a litter of kittens under a shed when he was a kid, with the momma kitty looking exhausted and put-upon as she let the little fluff-balls root around to nurse. He had snuck some of his ham sandwich out to her later. 

Thace _could_ get pregnant. But that made no sense either. He hadn’t been around other Galra since he came to Earth. Near as he could tell, that was five, six months gone. Thace had implied, and really creeped Jake out, that he had wanted to leave his people because he was pretty sure he would be forced to get pregnant. What if he had been the whole time?

He would have shown signs earlier, right?

Jake _prayed_ to _God_ that this didn’t mean Thace was dying from some random Earth bacteria.

He finished feeding his critters and headed back inside. Thace had cleared the table, even if he had to do it one handed, and was yawning. His soft purr seemed to fill the room. 

“Did the tea help?” Jake asked, heading to the sink to wash his hands; Idjit and Dumbass shed like hell but still demanded head rubs. Thace nodded, before leaning down rub his jaw against the side of Jake’s head. “Do Galra throw up?”

Thace nodded again, before draping himself over Jake, still purring. 

“Think you’re gonna?”

Thace nuzzled his hair, absently pressing his lips it. “Not right now.” Thace yawned again, eyes at half-mast. 

“You think you might be sick?” he finally asked, reaching up to pet his jaw. Thace’s eyes closed completely as he shook his head again. Jake braced himself, because Thace looked to be about to doze off completely.

“Then… then this is normal?”

 _That_ roused Thace enough to answer. “Yes.” He inhaled, sharply. “Yes. I think… yes. This is normal.” Except he said _normal_ like one would describe the progression of cancer. It wasn’t a happy sound. 

“Are you going to be all right?” Jake asked, putting an arm around his waist. 

There was a long, long pause. “I think so.” Thace seemed to be wilting more and more by the second. “Do not-“ and he yawned again. “Do not worry yourself. We- I- will be well.”

Jake frowned, then shook his head. “You’re passed out on your feet. Come on, handsome. Let’s get you to bed.”

~*~*~*~*~

Thace was able to limp, with Jake’s help, back to their bedroom and to their bed, where he curled up in the ratty fleece blankets that were saturated with their combined smell. Princess, who had jumped up on the bed that morning to take advantage of the warmth, had refused to budge. She did let him bury his hands in her thick ruff, hitting the bed with her tail twice before closing her eyes again.

He felt heavy and sleepy and fuck, yes, he could practically _hear_ his old biology teacher, a Galra who had given birth to three full litters and raised them by himself, droning on it.

Seminal plasma inside the womb triggered ovulation within a quintet. After that conception occurs. That was it. That was all it took. He had fixed them all with a stern glare, but they had all been young and the idea of being broody just hasn’t been real- they had snickered and laughed, because no. That would never happen to them. 

Ovulation would increase sex drive, until after implantation and it would taper off, leaving bloating, soreness, low blood sugar that would result in exhaustion… Thace sighed, he couldn’t remember much more.

He let himself doze as Jake got into the shower, listening to him sing some old religious hymn to himself. Thace had a vague notion to join him, felt himself warm at the idea, but the strength in his limbs had run out. He wanted nothing more than to just _sleep_. 

He didn’t hear Jake get out of the shower, or get dressed in his uniform, but he did remember Jake brushing his lips over his cheek before walking to the door, and stopping.

“See you tonight,” he whispered. Then paused. “Love you.”

Thace continued to pretend to be asleep, curling up tighter in the blankets.

He kept still, not moving, until Jake walked out of the house and locked the door behind him. 

Thace opened his eyes. 

“I love you, too.”

He couldn’t have hurt worse if his heart had been ripped out. Sitting up, he looked at Princess. “So. Any ideas on what I should do next?”

She twitched her ears, and gave him a smile, and closed her eyes to go back to sleep. “That’s not helpful.” He laughed, almost a sob, as his emotions dived and soared. “I love him too.” He put his hand over his belly, absently stroking as he tried to do the math. “This is madness.” Human pregnancy lasted nine months, according to Jake, producing large infants compared to Galra whelps. Galra gestation time was, hm, about half of that. Four to five months, if he was correct. He and Jake had first mated about a month ago, making him ovulate, and the resulting blastocyst had probably implanted a few days after that. 

He wasn’t quite of a fourth of the way through for a normal Galra pregnancy, but he was close. For a human one, he had barely gotten started.

“I should leave,” he told Princess, who rolled onto her belly and lifted her head as he said it. “As soon as I can walk and have my strength back.”

She made a growly, angry sound at that. 

“I know this is Jake’s whelp,” he said, imagining her response. “But _I can’t stay_. I have the whelp and… and what? Tell Jake ‘Thank you. For your kindness, here is your whelp, now I am must be off!’?” 

She whined. “Staying is not happening.” He scratched her ears. “I have a mission. This world is one that the Empire has targeted to search eventually. I go back, I can keep them away. Jake can live out the rest of his life in peace.” 

She put her head in his lap. “I don’t have to-“ _carry the whelp to term_ , he tried to say, but he couldn’t finish it. 

Practicality said that he shouldn’t. It was dangerous. A liability. Foolish. The other Blades would tell him that, if Command found out, he would be exiled or executed in shame.

It was _Jake’s_.

Thace would have to leave. But their whelp could stay. It would be hard for both of them, but… but it meant he had brought something good into the universe. And Jake would have another person to love. 

He would make a _magnificent_ father.

Thace felt… lighter, at that thought. Their whelp would be safe here, far from the universal conflict that raged across the stars. He could go back, and do his duty to the Blades, knowing that Jake and their whelp were far from it.

The Blade of Marmora would tell him that he should kill Jake, end the pregnancy and destroy the Garrison on his way out to keep anyone from tracking him or from discovering Voltron. 

His belly felt warm as he stroked it. _No, little one. I want you to live. Thrive. Fly._ He could do this. 

He _could_.

“I’m keeping it,” he told Princess, who snorted softly, licking his hands until he rubbed her belly. “I am a fool.”

Then exhaustion broke over and pulled him down again, knocking him to sleep.

~*~*~*~

Colleen Holt almost tore the headphones off her head when the translation ran across the screen.

Granted, this was not the first time she had heard Thace start talking to Kogane’s dog; Princess was his usual companion while Jake worked. Usually his comments were about whatever he was watching on PBS, or how to clean something, those little avians look so tasty, Princess, how are you not catching them right now? There were times when she heard him sounding out words; he had gone through a few Doctor Seuss books. As far as she could tell, he was picking up the language quickly.

She had noticed that he was sleeping more, noted the decrease in, ahem, _copulation_ , and had wondered about it.

Well, now she had the reason. And… Well, the _alien_ didn’t seem to doubt it. Presumably he would understand what was happening to his body better than anyone else. 

She swallowed hard; his little confession and following breakdown had been difficult to hear. He sounded, to someone who had gotten used to listening to his inflections and intonation, broken and exhausted and flabbergasted, and now she had to _act_. 

Licking her lips, her mind raced. This pregnancy, something that science said couldn’t happen, might push the Garrison into acting more directly. And the results would mean possible exposure, maybe several of their own people killed, and with the added probability of both Kogane and the alien dead, too. 

Exhaling quietly, thinking of Matt at home, with Sam, she deleted Thace’s monologue and made a loop of Thace’s sleep sounds, as if he had never woken up.

Well. Damn. Now she was a criminal. She swallowed hard, and let her fingers fly- she had been the one to create the translation program- so she quickly dived into the code, rewriting any references to pregnancy and childbearing to something else. It would give them some time. Maybe. 

She would have to do a lot of patch jobs. Biting her lip, she looked at her phone. 

Perhaps now was time to start a conspiracy?

~*~*~*~*~

Thace’s plans for telling Jake were forestalled by Jake finding him in front of the toilet, bent in half and dozing.

Jake had fluttered, getting him water to rinse his mouth out, and then filled the glass with something pale gold, which fizzed and had a smell similar to the tea from this morning.

“Ginger ale. Also brought home some fresh ginger, see if we can make something stronger to help,” Jake offered as Thace sipped, well, _gingerly_. “Grams always swore by pickled plums for,” he stopped. “Well. Don’t have any of those right now anyways. You able to eat?”

The drink seemed to help, a little. “I don’t know.” He felt like moving was too much trouble after the first few times he had wretched. Pretty much everything was dry heaves at this point.

Jake sat back on his heels. “Okay. Have you eaten since breakfast?” Thace shook his head. “Hm. Hang tight.”

Jake disappeared, leaving the drink. It did seem to help, and he kept sipping it. A few dobashes later, he was coming back with some square crackers and broth. “I’ll getcha something more substantial later. See if you can hold these down.”

And now Thace’s stomach rumbled. “Sheesh,” he said, in English, using his best Ernie impersonation.

Jake blinked, before he burst out laughing.

~*~*~*~

Another two weeks passed, and Thace was still spending most of his time sleeping. He kept planning to tell Jake, but… when he wasn’t sleeping, he was throwing up. When he wasn’t throwing up, he was trying to keep food and liquids down. It was an unpleasant cycle that took too long to wane.

The next thing was trying to find a place new place for Thace to nest, because, predictably, Princess took over the closet.

“You’re not getting it back,” Jake informed him, when they woke up to see her sleeping in the tangle of pillows, quilts, fleece blankets and worn clothes that Thace had been using. He had expected Jake to ask about it- and Thace still wasn’t sure how to answer- but so far, he hadn’t.

“She likes it. And I think those blankets aren’t going to be useable in a few more weeks.”

Thace felt his ears twitch- that had been _his_ nest- but it was hard to object too much. Princess had gone from merely plump to impersonating a cushion, waddling around the house and unable to squeeze through the dog door. To Thace’s shock and fascination, he could _see_ small bodies moving inside her.

“Kind of a pity, though. I did like those pants,” Jake went on, and this time Thace’s twitch was full-body. He was the reason those pants were in there. 

“I needed to smell you,” Thace said after a moment. “It made me feel safe.”

Jake exhaled. “Joe coming by really rattled you, didn’t it?”

Thace didn’t answer, just helped arrange Princess’s water and food bowls.

~*~*~*~*~

He could feel Jake’s morning wood against his ass, with one of his _almost_ Galra-sized hands lightly tracing lazy circles over his belly. How Jake, who was still much smaller than him, managed to be the big spoon was a mystery of the universe.

It was soothing, actually. 

“Do you want me take care of it?” he asked, after Jake’s fingers went from tracing, to palming, and his half-hard cock suddenly went to full-mast. 

“It’s okay. I’ll do that when I shower for work,” Jake mumbled. Thace twisted, rolling over to face him, and reached out to stroke his hand against the side of his face. 

“Sorry.”

Jake frowned. “For what?”

“I haven’t exactly been-“

“I lived alone for a long time before I met you,” Jake retorted. Thace could see the tent in his pants, though. “And I can take care of an inconvenient hard-on.”

Thace grunted. He had been _dry_ for the past few days. Add that to his continued lethargy (even if the nausea had subsided) and he just hadn’t been up for sex. Which was just as frustrating for him as for Jake. He _missed_ sex. 

“Hm. I can still help,” he responded. Jake chuckled, giving him a lopsided smile. 

Clothing came off, and Thace could feel Jake’s eyes on him in the dim like, moving up and down his chest, to his navel- and Thace didn’t know why, but feeling naked right now also felt vulnerable, as Jake’s hands followed his eyes. 

Jake reached under his pillows, pulling out some lubricant (they had tried it earlier, but Thace had fallen asleep before Jake had even finished prepping him. That Jake had stopped made him better than most of Zarkon’s Commanders by far), slicked up his hands, and took hold of his erection. 

Jake sighed softly. “You… started talking, a few weeks ago,” he started, lightly running his hands up and down his cock. “About me, um, breeding you.” He sounded a little breathless. 

Thace froze. Jake was staring at him; at his nipples, which had gotten larger and darker, the skin of his chest was taut under the fur… and the small, rounded curve that had started under his navel.

“Could you talk about that more?” he asked. “Made me cum like a goddamn train.”

Thace shivered, licked his lips, and nodded.

~*~*~*~*~

They had been having a Disney marathon one evening when it happened.

Princess had taken to sleeping almost exclusively in her-slash-Thace’s nest for the past few days. Both of them (despite Thace’s limp, even if he was no longer using the crutch) would get up to check on her and stand just outside the door of the bedroom; not because they weren’t concerned enough to go in, but because she would growl at them if they got too close, and had outright snarled at Jake when he had actually gone inside.

The dance sequence from _Beauty and the Beast_ was playing out, Angela Lansbury crooned through about the tale as old as time… and both he and Thace had their ears tuned in, just in case Princess sounded distressed. 

They were tangled together on the couch, with Thace’s arm slung over Jake’s shoulders, head pillowed in his arm. Jake let himself take in how Thace’s body had changed: the sweeter scent, bigger, more sensitive tits, and the little thing that neither of them talked about. Even if it was not so little now, and Jake’s splayed fingers could barely cover it.

Thace suddenly chuckled. “I am glad your cutlery and appliances do not sing and dance.”

Jake snickered. “Me too. Think you can save me from the curse in time?”

Thace just smiled, snorted, and looked away. “I would have to think about it. You did threaten to imprison my father for accepting hospitality.”

Jake’s hands had kept petting, drawing lines over Thace’s belly, when they both felt it at the same time.

A soft thud, like someone tapping on the underside of a drum. Jake looked up, just in time to see Thace’s astonished gasp, chased off his face by joy, followed by terror. His much larger hand dropped over Jake’s, squeezing it. Jake stared the bump, before opening his mouth.

“Can we talk about this?” 

Thace’s cheek dropped to the top of his head. He took several moments- Belle had taken the mirror and left the castle- when he answered.

“I’m pregnant.”

“I know.” Thace nearly jumped at that. “It’s kind of obvious now.” Jake actually did jump when they both felt another small thud from Thace’s belly.

Thace’s mouth opened, closed, opened again. He licked his lips, blinking and then sighed. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You didn’t seem to want to talk about it,” like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I mean, I’ll help you, and do everything I can to keep you safe and healthy, even if it’s not mine-“

And now Thace sat up, spilling Jake off of him. “It’s yours. Whose else would it be?”

Now it was Jake’s turn to look flabbergasted. “I don’t know- that’s what had me so confused-“

Thace inhaled, and covered his face with both hands. Exhaled. Dropped his hands and looked at Jake. “You didn’t know. Of course you couldn’t know.” His expression suddenly went surprised again, hands flying to the round pooch of his belly. 

“Didn’t know what? Thace, I fuck a nanny goat, I’ll forever be the bastard called ‘the guy who fucked a nanny goat,’ but I can’t get it pregnant. We’re not even from the same planet. How is that possible?”

Thace tried to pull his knees up, and Jake promptly climbed into his lap, putting both hands on the sides of his face. “Thace. I’ve kept my tongue-“ and Thace almost snickered “shut up, not like that- about asking you things. I think I deserve an explanation.”

“My species is… unique. We are capable of producing young with other species,” Thace said, after a long pause. “It is not an ability that is present in most other space faring civilizations." He closed his eyes. “This whelp will look human, sound human, grow as a human. A genetic scan would reveal the truth of his parentage, and he may inherit some… oddities. More aggressive than a full human, perhaps, with better agility and reflexes. This is always the case, when a Galra breeds with another species.” His ears were dropping, along with his shoulders. Jake moved to rub them. 

“I’m sorry, Handsome. I wish I’d known, I would have used protection-“

Thace chuckled, weakly. “Mine expired. I do not think I would have mated with you-“ then he stopped. Looked away. “I take that back. I would have tried harder to _stop_ , but I still would have wanted you.” He pressed their foreheads together. “I… My people see carrying the whelp of a different species as taboo. Foul. So I panicked.” His eyes were still closed, but he wrapped his arms around Jake. “But this whelp is yours and that made it good, so I couldn’t-“ and he choked, and Jake found himself squeezed, almost unable to breathe. “I wanted to do this, with _you_. No one else.”

Jake’s breath caught in his throat as his eyes grew hot and something bubbled in his belly, overflowing as tears. “It’s mine? Really?” His face was buried in Thace’s chest, feeling the whelp- their baby- start to wiggle under his hands. “I’m… I’m going to be a daddy?”

Thace nodded. “Yes. Congratulations.”

Jake swallowed. “Geeze. Oh god. I- I- Thace. Thank you.” Joy, hope and terror. That… that about summed up his feelings. He got off of Thace’s lap, and knelt in front of him, putting both hands on Thace’s belly. 

Thace stared. 

“Hey,” Jake whispered, addressing the bump. His couldn’t help the nerves that suddenly made his own stomach flutter. “Honey, I can’t wait to meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... this was supposed to be a SHORT story... and now I'm considering a sequel with Shiro/Ulaz... sob...
> 
> Edit [Moonrose001 did a fanart for me! Thanks!](http://ashacrone.tumblr.com/image/162316987268)


	8. Chapter 8

Thace opened the door to their bedroom later, a few hour later. 

They had been good hours, filled with Jake asking questions about what Thace needed, how long the pregnancy would be, making plans and cooing over Thace’s belly. Thace had answered as best he could: he hoped that all he would require would be more meat in the future, and perhaps another two to three months. The planning got a bit more panicked after that.

But seeing Jake’s smile threaten to split his face, while his work-worn hands stroked Thace’s belly (he had, of course, had to pull up his shirt so that Jake could feel him, even if he technically had before), and Thace’s heart sang. He felt flutters as Jake spoke to his belly, whispering ‘I love you, I can’t wait to meet you, I’ll do my best to be a good daddy, I promise.’

Thace basked in that moment, and promised himself to never, ever let it go. 

But eventually they had noticed the new sounds coming from their bedroom, and they had gotten up to check.

“I think you were wrong about this one,” Thace told Jake, who had covered his face to laugh and groan. 

Princess was sprawled out in the middle of their bed, laying on her side and panting as five small shapes wriggled against her. Jake approached Princess, and gave her head a scratch. She smiled, sides heaving with each breath. She looked proud.

“You did good, sweetheart,” he told her, and Thace limped closer, sitting on the bed (which was, as Jake suspected, a filthy mess from the birthing) and took a look at them: white and gray like their dam, eyes shut, ears folded down, whimpering as Princess would clean them with her tongue.

Galra whelps did much the same, and he said as much. 

Jake looked surprised. “Human babies don’t,” he replied, picking up the pup closest to him and inspecting it. “We don’t hear or see so well, but our eyes and ears aren’t actually _closed_.” 

Thace nodded, keeping his face calm, but he felt Jake’s eyes on him as he rubbed his belly.

Jake kept inspecting the pups, giving them scratches and coos- Thace found himself just soaking up the human’s smiles- and finally just burst out laughing.

“I’ll be dipped,” he kept saying, over and over again. “I’ll be dipped.”

“Jake?”

“I dunno, but… well, they all look about alike, and like her, means they all probably have the same daddy. More’n that,” he scratched the back of his head. “I’d need a vet to confirm it but I think she found a wolf or a wolf-dog like her.” He reached out and rubbed Princess’ head. She licked his hand. “You got your work cut out for you. Me too. I gotta find a home for them, and you tore the house up when you were teething.”

Thace felt the corners of his mouth tilting upwards. “You will find a way for them.” Jake glanced over, and down, at Thace’s belly. 

“I’ll give’em my best.”

~*~*~*~*~

A few weeks later, and Thace walked up and down the short hallway of Jake’s house, no crutches, with some barely some lingering soreness.

The stitches in his side had come out long ago, and both Jake and Thace had agreed that his foot was mostly mended. Thace had started exercising, just before Jake had bred him (and, somehow, attaching Jake’s name not only made it acceptable but desirable) and after, until his symptoms had nearly tied him down to the sofa. 

Now the exhaustion and nausea had eased off, even as his belly became heavier (if not necessarily bigger, because he didn’t think he was carrying more than one). In its place, his appetite had increased (and… well, Jake had been happy to experiment until he somehow produced something he called tuna salad tacos. And Thace _couldn’t stop eating them_.) as had his strength. So he started doing as many exercises as he could while Jake was at work without leaving the house.

Not the best way to build his stamina. Doing abdominal exercises also required some creativity.

Which meant that he could work against his own body weight and gravity, stretches and flexibility, shadow box, but inevitably he would wind up puttering about to find something useful to do. (He had learned how to make the tuna salad tacos, which helped. As well as some other Earth foods he particularly liked. Or he cleaned. Or practiced English. Or, fantasized about stroking Jake until he was begging and riding him until he was carrying a litter as big as Princess’s. Curse you, brooding hormones.) 

He had just gone to check up on the puppies (now balls of fluff instead of the little dumplings they had been) who were sleeping with fierce concentration beside their dam. Duke, Duchess, Earl, Lady and Antok were piled on top of each other, suckling on air, while Antok howled defiantly at shadows, and accidentally rolled away from his siblings. Thace put him back. (Yes, he had named one of the puppies and no, he was never going to tell Jake why.) 

Cute. He took a few moments to just indulge in enjoying how _cute_ the puppies were and daydreaming about how cute his own whelp would be, even if he would be just a tiny human-

The sound crunching gravel broke through his peaceful thoughts, making him jump to his feet.

Jake was due home in a few dobashes. But he knew the sound of Jake’s vehicle. This one was lighter, not the deep, smooth growl of Jake’s, and there was a distinct hum to it that implied it used different fuel. 

Princess perked up, tail high. She streaked back through the house, out through the doggy door, and started to make a sound that _definitely_ wasn’t angry, frightened or protective.

She was yipping- not snarling or growling- mixed with happier howls. She was all but bouncing on the other side of the gate.

The blinds and curtains were drawn, but Thace crept closer- all the lights were out behind him, so the newcomer wouldn’t see his shadow- and peered through. There were three figures, all of them speaking with much, much higher voices than Jake’s. They were shorter, too. He frowned. It was hard to tell, because their hair was in different styles, and the pictures were old, but he thought…

“Hey Princess! Hey girl! Oh you got so big now!” one of the figures said, falling to its knees to give Princess a hug and head rubs, which she accepted with enthusiasm.

“Is Uncle Jay here?” the smallest figure said, with a bit of a lisp. The tallest figure shook its head. 

“I don’t see his truck, so we probably beat him here. You know it takes him awhile to get off of work some days,” a feminine, adult voice said. She was rubbing her hands on the sides of her jeans to dry them. 

Thace was blank, before he realized who they had to be. Two human children, who looked somewhat like the pictures on the walls: Jake’s niece and nephew, the children of his brother. The female would be their dam. 

She opened the gate, and was coming towards the door without any hesitation. Thace dashed away as quickly as his foot would carry him, climbing over the bed and into the closet.

The weight of his belly had grown, making the space seem much, much smaller.

But he could still hear Princess’s bright, bouncy barks as the door opened- another mark in their favor, that the key they had was current- and they all trooped in.

He had gone a little bit stir-crazy that day: laundry was folded in stacks in the basket, the minimal breakfast dishes were clean, the bed had hospital corners, and the carpet had been swept. (The vacuum made too much noise, and both he and Princess were shedding), so there was little evidence of his presence. 

“Uncle J- _puppies!_ ”

He heard small feet patter towards the basket, and the adult female telling them to be careful, gentle, they were babies so you had to be gentle, Sammy, don’t squeeze!

Giggles and laughter, and he heard the crinkle of stiff paper and a fried-meat-and-onion scent that he knew from times when Jake had bought prepared food from a restaurant. Princess barked and he could hear her jaws snap. 

His own stomach rumbled, while the whelp turned over in his belly. He breathed, quietly as he could, and leaned back against the closet wall, as his muscles relaxed as he listened to them. He put his hands on his middle. 

So. This was what human whelps were like.

“Can we take one home, mom?” the eldest girl, (he assumed) Becky, asked. 

“They’re too young, Becks,” the dam said. “They don’t even have their eyes open yet. And even then, having a pet is a big-“

Bigger, heavier feet, in boots, hit the porch, and the door slammed open- “ _BRENDA?_ ”

Both of the children yelped, and called out variations of “Uncle Jay!” and Jake laughing, yelping, and a slapping sound that Thace assumed was an embrace. “You kids okay? What the heh-he-heck, Brenda? I pull up and see your car there and I thought- geeze. I ain’t seen y’all in ages!”

The woman- Brenda- gave a soft laugh. “Sorry, Jake. I tried to call but it kept going to voice mail. But you had asked me if I had heard from Joe and, you mentioned Princess had puppies and I figured the kids would wanna see ‘em, so…”

He could hear the tension run out of Jake. “Don’t worry, no harm done. Just, yeah. I was kinda worried because Joe came round here, while back. Princess bit ‘em but he pepper-sprayed her. I was concerned he might have tried to come back after you.”

Thace stroked his belly. _I hope you never meet that human_. He grimaced. _Or Zarkon… or Sendak, or Prorok-_ He wondered if he should make a list.

“Thanks for checking on us,” Brenda said. “We hadn’t heard from you in awhile.”

“Can I play with the chickens?” a younger, higher voice asked. Sam? “I wanna see Hooper.”

“Ah, about that.” There was a long pause, and the rustle of cloth, and Jake’s voice was coming from lower down. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching the fences and about six of the flock got away. A big cat ate them.”

He heard the boy make a heartbroken whimper. Thace, on the other hand, winced. _I will never live that down. My worst crime, killing a chicken. I’m sorry, child. They tasted so good._ His stomach, reminding him that he was eating for two, muttered even louder.

“I’m sorry,” Jake said. “It happens. It was my fault they got out. But about half are left, and I’m sure they would like it if you took them some pellets.”

His voice was still a whine. “Okay…” he stomped towards the back porch. 

“I’ll keep him from overfeeding them!” Becky called, and he heard another set of steps go out. 

There was silence for a moment. “You all right, Jake? You look pretty tense.”

“Who? Me? Nah. I’m… I’m fine. Just had a long day.”

“I know we barged in like this, and I had another reason for wanting to talk to you.” Now she sounded nervous. “In person, because I don’t want to the kids to overhear.” She let her voice turn soft. “I- I gotta go to the doctor. Probably stay overnight. I won’t be good for much for a few days after that. My Mom says she can help out for a few days, but taking care of me and the kids will make her crazy. And she don’t drive.”

“Brenda…”

“I know you just got a new boyfriend-“ and Jake let out a strangled grunt, and she laughed “Come on, Jake, you _know_ how the old church ladies cluck about how much you’re going to hell. And you’ve been _smiling_. I wanna meet him! But this… it can’t be put off any longer. It’s just for a few days, I promise. I just need you to take ‘em to school, the bus can drop ‘em off here, and it’ll be fine.”

For a moment, Thace was too surprised to react… but then he felt _rage_. Not only was this person encroaching on his home, his _nest_ , when he was going to be birthing soon, she was sending her offspring to distract Jake from him, from _their_ whelp. He had _needed_ his Jake, who had helped him feel real and alive and like he _mattered-_

Thace covered his face in his hands, forcing himself to breathe slowly and deeply. These people were Jake’s family. They had known Jake since long before he had come to Earth, and would keep him for long after he left. If anything, he was the trespasser in _their_ lives. He needed to calm down. Shut up, brooding hormones.

Jake’s nature was to help. If it wasn’t, Thace would probably be dead right then. He would want to care for his family- and that was… Thace could deal with that. It was what he loved about Jake, after all.

He didn’t hear Jake and Brenda agree on a day. But he did hear the kids run out, after more embraces and kisses to the puppies, more hugs, goodbye to the chickens, can I see Idjit, UNCLE JAKE I’M ON THE COLOR GUARD FOR HIGH SCHOOL, Uncle Jake I’ve got an imaginary friend named Spooky... In his mind’s eye, he replaced Uncle Jake with Sire (no, too formal) then with Daddy (and that sounded just about perfect) and he dozed off, imagining Jake talking to their whelp, what would their son be like as he grew..?

He jumped, waking up at the sudden brightness when the closet was opened, and Jake was sitting on the bed.

“God that scared ten years off my life. How much did you hear?” he asked, offering a hand for Thace. Thace scowled at it, but after four attempts to get up, he gave in and took the hand. The whelp didn’t help by rolling around inside him, throwing his weight in the wrong direction as he tried to get his balance. 

“Most of it. We are going to have guests soon.” Jake nodded. “I do not think you will be introducing me to your family, however. The children would find me frightening.”

Jake just laughed. “Thace, they would think you hung the _moon_. Sammy’d have a meltdown because he thought you were so amazing and Becky would ask you so many questions your head would spin. The problem would be keepin’ ‘em quiet. I don’t think they would be able to do it, and asking them to keep something as amazing as _you_ quiet… not fair to ‘em.”

Thace tilted his head. “I am not frightening to you?”

“Well, when I woke up being carried and wearing a blindfold, yeah. I nearly wet my pants.” Then he shrugged. “But you stayed with me.” His eyes went somewhere else, locked on the middle distance, before pulling himself back, and looking Thace up and down and smiling. “And you don’t cut quite the same, uh, _intimidating_ figure you did when we first met.”

Thace opened his mouth. Looked down. His belly had definitely popped out now, round but not huge, and he reached up to feel that the harsh edges of his jaw and cheeks had softened. His tits, which had once sat on planes of muscle… were much, much fuller, but there was give there now. He would probably start leaking soon.

“To look at you I wouldn’t call you cuddly, but you don’t look like you’re about to bite someone in two, neither.” Jake shrugged, and smiled, and leaned into Thace. “Just different. And beautiful.” He put one of his hands on Thace’s belly, rubbing it in small circles. 

Thace’s ears went flat, before wrapping Jake up in his arms and pulling him close to purr, burying his nose in his hair. 

“I’m sorry to be putting you out, with the kids here,” Jake mumbled against his chest. “I’m thinking, since the weather is getting better, could you sleep out in the barn? The kids would be in here, and I’ll be on the sofa.”

Thace exhaled. “I haven’t been to my camp in some time. My strength has returned enough that I could check it on my own.”

Jake’s eyes widened. “That a good idea? I mean, the Garrison… And you ain’t been moving too fast, yet. Plus, with the baby and all…”

And that was the thing, wasn’t it? “The equipment I had with me when you found me.” He looked up at Jake. “Where is it?”

~*~*~*~*~

Jake took Thace out to the barn after they had eaten the tacos that Thace had made. (His stomach, and the whelp, couldn’t wait any longer.)

“You left my things in a box?” Thace asked, looking at a wooden trunk. It was sitting there, not even locked. “Is that… wise?”

“Oh ye of little faith,” Jake replied, squeezed the sides in two different places and… it tilted back. Underneath was another door, and this one had a combination lock, which he opened up, revealing a black hole. Without hesitation, Jake turned around, swinging himself down what Thace assumed was a ladder. “Stay up here.”

Thace fell into a squat, peering inside. He could vaguely make out the dim outline of several boxes, until a light appeared and those boxes resolved themselves into crates of what looked to be preserved foodstuffs and water bottles and tools. There was some mumbling and swearing, before a heavy metal box came up the ladder. “Can you take it?”

This looked much, much more secure, and Thace was surprised by the weight of it compared to its size. Jake came up a few moments later. 

“Momma was a doomsday prepper,” he said offhandedly, and Thace tilted his head. He didn’t know the reference. “She believed that God was going to return soon and that before it happened there would be war and famine and other awful shit. Since I don’t trust the Garrison or, hell, much of the government, I kept the bunker.”

Thace eyed the box as Jake finished coming out of the hole and reset the door. The metal looked thick enough that it would take a very hot torch to burn through it, and the door had another combination lock on it. Not impossible- he could probably break in after a few hours- but if someone got that far it would have happened after both Thace and Jake were both dead.

It occurred to Thace that Jake had put his effects there to keep _Thace_ for finding him… which Thace approved of. It showed that, while he was a good person, Jake wasn’t necessarily _stupid_.

It took Jake two dobashes to open up the box. It was large enough to house his armor, his weapons, and even the cut up remnants of his clothing. Thace took them solemnly, inspecting the armor (the chest piece was fine, one of his boots had a huge hole in it from the gunshot) his weapons (the charge on the blaster was low and his dagger was in its sheath.) The remote control for his hoverbike was also still in his utility belt. “Thank you for keeping these.”

“I wasn’t gonna sell them on craigslist,” Jake said, and shrugged. Despite this, Thace could _hear_ his curiosity, throbbing just below his feigned disinterest. 

He picked up his dagger, and willed it into its sword form. Jake’s eyes widened to the point he was concerned that they would fall out of Jake’s head… but it was worth it. “This is a luxite blade,” he said, and offered it hilt-first to Jake, who took it. The blade retreated to its dagger form at his touch. “It only reacts to those of Galra blood.” He pointed to the mark. “It is ceremonial, but it has saved my life more than once.”

Jake twirled the blade in his fingers, and pursed his lips. “The balance is great.” He reached up, pulled out a hair and let it drop over the edge. The strand split, dropping to the dirt floor in two pieces. “Impressive. I’ll be handing this pig-sticker back to you.” He flipped it back, but Thace noted he know how to use it just _fine_. “You ever killed anyone with it?”

Thace’s ears twitched, almost pinning to his head. “A few.” He had never had the time for, or the luxury of, regret. “For the Blades, usually. I had a duty to perform. Bringing down the Emperor was all that mattered.”

Then the whelp shifted in his belly, kicking out hard enough that even Jake could see the skin and flesh bulge outwards. It made Thace grunt, causing him to drop the blade in the dirt as he cradled his belly. He stared at the blade… and at then at himself, seeing his belly shift with the whelp’s movements. His backside dropped to the dirt as well, because he was shaking, and he couldn’t _stop_ shaking.

His duty had been the only thing that mattered in his life, until it hadn’t. And now, he had something just as real, just as important, squirming so hard that it took his breath away. And he was going to have to leave his whelp to return to a duty he wasn’t sure he could face.

“Thace?” he heard Jake whisper, getting to his knees and shifting over. “You- handsome, you okay?”

His chest ached, and it seemed to flood up and over-

“Oh.” Jake’s soft whisper caught his attention. Following his gaze, he looked up from his belly and to his chest and to the dark stains seeping through the shirt he wore. “Not much longer, is it?”

The fluid wasn’t quite milk, not yet. The sight of it made him bark out laugh. Not so long ago, it would have been his worst nightmare. He absently reached up and squeezed his chest, watching the stain spread. “Galra whelps… they’re born small, so we make a lot of milk,” he murmured, and rubbed his belly. “Because he’s going to be nursing most of the day for some time.” His own dam had suckled him for years, along with his brothers. Thace doubted he would be allowed that long.

Jake slung an arm around Thace’s neck. “Handsome?”

Thace made no move to pick up the blade. “You’re right.” He rubbed his face against Jake’s. “Not much longer at all.”

~*~*~*~*~

Jake went through the plan again, and hoped everything would turn out for the best.

Brenda had dropped the kids off for school, going to the hospital after that. He would be picking her up and dropping her back off at her house where her mother would be waiting. The kids would have taken the bus to his house that afternoon. Thace knew the time to expect them and would head out to the barn before that and made himself comfortable. Jake had dropped by the store and had gotten some food to cook, just spaghetti because it was about all Sammy would eat. He would slip out after the kids were in bed to take food to Thace… and _fuck_ he felt guilty about doing this to him. 

But he couldn’t not help the kids or Brenda, they were family. And it wasn’t like Joe would help, either.

It was dark when he pulled up, and he could hear the TV going as he walked to the door. It squeaked, just a little, and he heard Princess barking even before he had the door fully open.

He grinned at the kids and shut the door and-

Stopped. 

Thace was sitting on the floor in front of the sofa, surrounded by fantasy-esque paying cards and many-sided dice while Sammy did a victory dance and Becky was pouting. There was a red, rhinestone barrette in his hair, and at some point, his talons had been painted in alternating shades of baby blue and powder pink, with a glittery top coat on both. Puppies were stumbling around them all on their stubby little legs and squeaking, while Princess grabbed them by their necks and carried them back to their nest.

“Hey Uncle Jay!” Becky said after a moment. Jake was silent, just staring. “We found your boyfriend in the closet.”

Sam stopped his victory dance, sitting down cross-legged and giving Thace’s arm a hug. “And he’s super cool. I told him you should get married. Because then we’d have an alien uncle and _no one_ has an alien uncle.”

Thace, whose expression only a torturer could appreciate, replied, “They had only half a day of school today. I had fallen asleep in the closet. And Princess came to find me because the food was too high for them to reach.”

“And you had to pee real bad,” Sam added. “Because of our cousin.”

Thace nodded in acknowledgement. Jake blinked, helplessly, for several moments before covering his face with his hands to muffle the laughter that he couldn’t stop, as it shook his chest and made his knees weak.

He dropped his hands. For a moment, he bathed in the chaotic silliness of that moment, the kind that only family can make, the kind he had missed for so long-

And he saw the look of horror cross Thace’s face, lunging for the kids and hollering.

“DOWN!” 

That was when his shoulder exploded into a grisly rain of flesh and blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was more drama than I intended but it sort of happened.


	9. Chapter 9

Thace had dozed off that morning, after his exercises, dishes, showering and lazily jerking Jake off before he left. After all, he had plenty of time before the human children arrived, and the whelp was being restless at night, waking him often. 

Intellectually, the bed would have made more sense. The closet had gotten more and more cramped as the days went on, but every time he tried to sleep someplace else, _without_ Jake there, he had awoken paranoid and with a sense that someone was watching him.

Except that he had awoken, a few hours later, well before noon. A loud doggy whimper, then bright light, interrupted his dreams. 

“Oh my God!” he heard, and another voice said “Wow, wow, Sammy you aren’t supposed to say ‘God’ like that- wow.”

The boy turned to the girl, and stared at her. “ _Uncle Jay has a monster in his closet._ ”

Both turned back to him, and Thace held very, very still. Princess would have none of it, though, and took the leg of his jeans in her teeth and tugged. She then put her snout on his knee, begging with her eyes. 

“You are incorrigible,” he told Princess, who lolled her tongue and grinned when he scratched her head. That was more than enough, though, for the children to decide he wasn’t a threat.

“Are you here to scare Uncle Jay?” Sam asked. “Is that why you’re in the closet?”

Thace shook his head. “I am not. And Jake- your uncle- is not afraid of me.” 

“Oh. Is this a magic closet, and that’s how you got here? I used to pretend it was when I was a baby.”

Thace had rarely interacted with children. This was… not how he would have thought things would go. “It is not magic. I like to nap in here because it makes me feel safe.”

“Oh. Like a bear,” Becky said. Thace wasn’t sure what a bear was. And of course, this was the moment the whelp decided that his bladder was a great cushion, and settled down to have a sit. 

“Would you mind,” Thace said, slowly and quietly, and trying very hard to appear unfrightening. “Helping me get up?” Because, if anything, seeing him as someone who was helpless would keep them from being so frightened when they saw his full height.

And it seemed that they had a lot of Jake in them, because they offered without hesitation, taking his hands and pulling with all their meager strength. For their pains he made a show of getting up, grunting and groaning. Not that it was all show; his joints were loose and sore recently.

Somehow this lead to them following him to the toilet, asking questions. He went inside, and they continued asking questions to the closed door. And when he came out, the bombardment of questions continued. 

“No, I’m actually an alien.”

“I’m also your uncle’s boyfriend.”

“I’m pregnant.”

“Yes, I’m still his boyfriend. My kind are all men.”

“My people are usually this tall, yes.”

“I was searching for something on Earth. I found your uncle when he broke his arm and rescued him. Then I was hurt and he rescued me. But I was hurt very badly, and Jake decided to take care of me.”

Becky squealed at that one and hugged Sam. “And he swept you off your feet?” she said, spinning around with her brother, who yelled for sissy to stop.

Thace tilted his head. “Not… exactly?” 

She pouted.

Jake had been absolutely right. The questions continued, up to and right through ‘what is your second favorite animal’ and ‘what is the name of your imaginary friend.’ Becky probably would have asked more, but Sammy got bored. Somehow this resulted in board games, Becky applying pigment to his fingers, and his hair being styled. Somehow. He was fairly sure there had been a logical progression… somewhere.

“Are you and Uncle Jay going to get married?” Sam asked at some point, as they rolled dice to try and ‘attack’ monsters in different ways. 

“No,” Thace answered. It was an interesting cultural artefact, to be sure, but-

“Oh. Don’t you love him? He loves you. He’s been really happy,” Sam said seriously. Thace blinked. 

“I love him, too,” he said after a moment, and Becky’s eyes _sparkled_ , and she hugged Sam, who shrieked for sissy to _stop it_. “But I have to leave, after the whelp is born.”

And then Sammy’s lips trembled. “But the baby’s going to miss you. I mean, our daddy… we miss him. Uncle Jay is great and Mom’s boyfriend is okay, I guess.”

And Thace looked down at the cards and exhaled. “My people need me, too.” A longer explanation would confuse them. “And this whelp will be human. Like you. He would be lonely and strange among my people.”

This seemed to satisfy the children, and they continued with the game until Jake walked in. His expression was both amused, happy and flabbergasted… and a shadow flickered, a reflection was just too bright-

Rust blew off his old reflexes, and Thace yelled, forcing both of the children down to the floor, covering their heads as they screamed in terror. Jake’s knees collapsed, spilling him to the floor.

“Kids, come on out!” a voice slurred, filled with rage and frustration. “I’m here to take you home!”

“Hide in the closet and stay as close to the floor as you can,” Thace whispered to the children, pushing them in the direction of the hallway as another shot broke the windows. Crawling, keeping low, was fucking _hard_ right now, because of his belly, but managed to scoot to Jake. 

“It’s Joe,” Jake hissed. “Fuck, he found out that the kids were here.”

Thace didn’t answer, instead inspecting the wound on Jake’s shoulder. “Hit the clavicle,” Jake answered, as Thace pulled off the flannel shirt he wore over his t-shirt, and wadded it up, pressing it to the wound, shoving it under the remains of Jake’s shirt to hold it in place. “Gotta keep pressure on it, or I’ll pass out from blood loss. Can’t use my left arm.”

“If that damn dog comes out here I am going to shoot that bitch in the head,” Joe howled. 

Thace growled, reaching for his dagger. 

“He’s got a Colt,” Jake whispered. His face was turning pale. Thace’s chest hitched, but he pressed the fear down. “It got eight shots. So he’s got six left. Don’t try to use the knife until he’s gotta reload.”

Thace glared at him, but another shot rang out, going through the roof. “Five,” Jake muttered.

“Now, you bastard, you keep trying to steal my _life_ ,” Joe started. “Send the kids out to me, and I won’t shoot you dead.”

Thace and Jake looked at each other, and Jake gestured with his chin. Thace nodded, before slamming the sofa in front of the door.

“Joe, I don’t understand,” Jake called out. He pointed to the back door, and tapped the floor to get Princess’s attention, and pointed at the two of them. Thace nodded. “What’d I do?”

“Oh you _know_ what you did. You turned Brenda and the kids against me,” Joe rambled, and Thace, with Princess, headed to the back door.

~*~*~*~*~

Colleen was already running out the door when she heard the first gunshot.

“IVERSON!” she howled, sliding inside. “Who told Joe that Jake had the kids?”

Iverson blinked. “No one. We’ve not spoken with him since-“

“What did you tell him to get him to go out there to begin with?” she snapped. “Because he’s there _right now_ , shootin’ up the place! We gotta get out there right now or we are gonna have a dead alien, two dead men, and two dead babies because his kids are staying there while Brenda’s in the hospital!”

Iverson blanched. “No one told him to go-“

“We gotta get people out there _right now_ cause Jake’s down and if we don’t the police crawling all over the place-“

Iverson nodded. “Our medics and a security force.” He got up to make the call, when Colleen took a deep breath.

“Holt?”

“The alien, sir… see, there’s been something I’ve been keeping from you, and that they need to know about.” She braced herself. She would probably get brig time for this. “The alien is pregnant.”

Iverson slowly lowered the phone. “Say what?”

“His people look male, but apparently, he’s capable of getting pregnant, too. And with other species.”

Iverson looked at her like she was mad. “The hell. How?”

“Damn if I know the mechanics. But the alien is pretty damn sure, and Jake believes him. And he seems pretty sure he’s close to his due date.”

To Iverson’s credit, he didn’t yell at her for keeping this information from him, just called for the two teams. “And I want you to keep the police out of this.” She nodded. 

“And Holt. We are going to talk later.”

Colleen swallowed hard, and nodded, heading back to her work station to start monitoring the phones.

~*~*~*~*~

Thace kept low as he eased out the back door, leapt off the porch and went in the opposite direction of Princess. Jake kept talking, kept asking Joe questions, asking him to explain. Told him he was scaring the kids. Told him that if he would just put the gun down, they could talk about things. Work it out. Just put down the gun, Joe. It’ll be okay.

“It ain’t never gonna be okay!” Joe said, half in tears. “Brenda’s trying to sue for full custody and I ain’t got the money for child support and you got the house when Momma died! I shoulda got it! I got the kids to raise!”

One more shot, this time at the roof of the house, which left him with four shots. Thace grabbed some stones from the flower bed around the side of the house. He glanced around the corner. The human, who had an uncanny resemblance to Jake, was trying to open the door, but not getting very far because of the sofa.

He started shooting at the door. Three, two.

Thace couldn’t spare the time to worry; he tossed one of the rocks to his far side, making him shoot at the ground. One.

Princess _snarled_ , and as he was bringing up the gun to aim, Thace jumped, extending his dagger into a sword, striking out in a long arc. His sword was sharp, and there was barely any shock against his arms as the blade connected, severing the human’s head from his body and sending it flying. 

The blade retreated to dagger form and he danced away from the spurts of blood as the body collapsed. 

Thace turned away. “Jake! Can you hear me?”

No answer.

Princess was savaging the body, before Thace pat her back. “We need to find the children and your pups.”

She backed away, whining, and they leapt from the porch- and Thace stopped. Took a deep breath. Hissed, slowly, through his teeth as a painful ripple started through his back and belly; he shook it off.

He managed to get inside. Jake was pale as a ghost, and hanging on to consciousness with his teeth and toenails. The spirits had protected him, it seemed. There were plenty of new holes but none in Jake. “Kids?” he asked. 

Thace limped back to the bedroom, and saw that Becky had her hands over Sam’s eyes, her own tightly closed as she whimpered. He put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s safe. Joe can’t hurt anyone now.”

She sniffled, opening her eyes, and Sam did the same. “I need your help,” he said quietly. “Jake is hurt. I need you to make a phone call because phones don’t work for me.” She nodded, and he found both children suddenly wrapped around his chest from where he knelt, crying… a lot more quietly than he would have thought they would be. He purred, and they squeezed harder. It took some effort, but he managed to pick both of them up and carry them down the hall; neither child wanted to let go. 

Princess had gotten all of her puppies together in the nest and was huddled over them. “Becky, you call for help. Sammy, can you protect the puppies? They’re probably scared.” He honestly had no idea, but being given a task seemed to help them both. He went to Jake.

“You’re going to be a good Mom,” Jake mumbled. His eyes kept rolling open and closed again. 

“Wouldn’t say that,” he answered. “Stay with me. Stay awake.” He pat Jake’s cheek. “Please stay awake.”

In the background, he heard Becky announce that the ambulance was coming, before coming over to cling to Thace’s side. Sam gave up on the puppies and did the same. 

“Uncle Jay-“ Sam whimpered as Jake closed his eyes. 

He was breathing. Thace found himself counting every breath as the two children sat in his lap. He couldn’t look away, just rocked them back and forth. He knew he should get up and leave, go hide, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t force himself to leave, not when the little ones were crying into his shoulders and chest, not when he had to know that Jake was safe. He didn’t move when he heard the crunch of gravel, or when several sets of footsteps came in through the back when they couldn’t open the front.

The first person he saw was a small human female, directing the other humans behind her like a drill sergeant as they loaded up Jake onto a stretcher, putting a mask over his face. Several humans pointed guns at himself and the children- and he twisted, presenting his back and hunching over them protectively. Princess got to her feet, bearing her teeth in anger.

“This isn’t necessary, you’re scaring the children,” the short woman said. “Stand down.” She came over, kneeling in front of Thace. “Stop that,” she told Princess, who had come over. “I’m not going to hurt them, so long as he cooperates.” She exhaled. “Mr. Thace.” And he jumped, finally meeting your eyes. “Yes, I know your name. Becky, Sammy, you’re going to be okay. We’re taking Jake to the hospital. But we need all three of you to cooperate.” Her eyes narrowed, and Thace caught the unstated threat. 

“You’re not the police?” Becky asked, eyes wide. Sam was peeking at her, but he still had his face buried in Thace’s side. “I called nine-one-one!”

Thace frowned, then exhaled. He couldn’t fight all of them, not his condition, not with Jake captive, not with the children as potential victims. “We will cooperate.” He smoothed the children’s hair. 

The woman just nodded. “Come with us.”

~*~*~*~*~

They drove out to the same facility that Thace had been investigating months ago; it felt like a lifetime now.

“Hey, Becks, Sammy,” the woman said, when they opened the vehicle door and got out. There was a man with brown hair and glasses waiting on them. “This is my husband, Sam. He’s going to take you to the break room. You can watch T.V. and relax there. He’s brought in some McDonald’s for you. You like chicken nuggets, right, Sammy? Isn’t it funny that you have the same name?”

Thace followed them out, staring at the humans. The two children wrapped themselves around his waist, and he knelt, petting their hair. “Do as they say. Jake would want you to look after each other and be careful.” 

“What are you going to do with him?” Becky asked the woman, all suspicion. She had latched on to Thace’s neck and refused to let go.

“We’re going to take him to the doctor. We want to make sure your cousin is all right,” the woman explained, still sounding friendly and reasonable. “Your cousin’s got an alien for a mommy. No one else has ever been like that, so we want to make sure he’s growing properly.”

“Are you going to hurt them?” she asked. “I saw E.T.”

The woman chuckled. “I promise. No one is going to get hurt.”

“I will be fine,” he reassured them. It was, of course, a bald-faced like. “Be careful.”

Becky finally nodded, sniffing and letting go. She took Sammy’s hand and they both turned to the older human male. He waved them over, and started chatting brightly. 

"They seem quite fond of you, even if they just met you," the woman said. 

Thace watched them go until they had gone into the facility, before turning to the female, and the numerous guards. “Thank you for being gentle with them.”

The woman nodded. “And as long as you continue to cooperate, we will be. Jake’s in stable condition, even if he hasn’t woken up yet. He’ll need surgery to fix the damage to his shoulder, but we’re sure he’ll keep most of his range of motion. And now,” and she held out some metal restraints. “You did leave a rather large mess on Jake’s porch.”

Thace held out his arms, and she latched the cuffs. “Come with us. We have some doctors who are… very _eager_ … to make your acquaintance.”


	10. Chapter 10

Colleen had followed along as they took the alien ( _Thace_ , she reminded herself. His name is Thace.) to a processing room, fully intending to stick around until they threw her out. 

They started stripping him. In his pockets, they found a piece of tech- they had no idea what it was, other than purple- a few wadded-up tissues, and a wrapped piece of ginger candy and half of a dog biscuit. There was sheath for his dagger at the small of his back. They handled the dagger carefully; it had been sharp enough to cleave Joe’s head off in one hit. 

He was barefoot, but he had come in wearing a pair of beat up flip-flops. 

The over-sized t-shirt would have bagged off of most humans, but it was form-fitting on the alien. It was also splattered in blood (along with his fur) while something like colostrum seeped through, and the bulge of his pregnant belly was obvious, even if it was nowhere near as pronounced as it was when she had carried Matt. 

They took the cuffs off long enough for him to peel the shirt off, and she winced as he obeyed. His chest was swollen, nipples sticking out of his fur, and while the baby-bump honestly wasn’t as big as a human at six months along, it was obvious that the space was mostly filled, because she could see it move as the fetus inside shifted. Then they made him take off his pants and she had to look away. 

They escorted him to an examination room, and Colleen cursed her short legs. 

The guards almost didn’t let her in, but she glared and they went ahead; she had a reputation for quick and vicious revenge when thwarted. 

The room itself smelled like cleaning solution. There weren’t any of the knickknacks or oddities you found in most hospital or doctor offices: the walls were bare, boxes of swabs and gloves and other tools set out neatly beside what looked to be two ultrasound machines, a blood pressure monitor, with some cups, vials and syringes to take samples. But there was nothing to take the patient’s mind off the impending exam. 

He was weighed, height taken, blood pressure cuff put around his wrist because it didn’t fit his arm, and his blood drawn before they made him pee in a cup with everyone watching. Then asked to lay back on the examination table. They didn’t bother to tell him what was happening, and Colleen cringed when they ran the tape over his belly.

“We’re taking some basic measurements, to see how you compare to human pregnancy,” she said, tightly, and the doctor glared at her. She almost flipped him off. “We weren’t kidding when we said we were concerned. You haven’t had _any_ medical care. Just Jake, and while he’s good at patching people up, he’s not an expert in human pregnancy, let alone your own.”

Thace’s expression didn’t change.

She breathed out. “We just want to check to make sure it’s healthy.”

It was hard to tell what he was thinking- or even what direction he was looking in- but he seemed a bit calmer. She snapped when the doctor got out the speculum, though, and started towards Thace without warming it up. 

His eyes met hers, and she thought she saw a spark of amusement there. Not at his situation, but at her actions, she thought. She shook her head. 

“Subject has a vaginal analogue, as well as a cervical one,” the doctor said, for the benefit of the audio recorder once he had begun. He had maintained his dry, mechanical tone throughout the examination. “The analogue is similar enough that I see what looks to be a mucus plug, which is still in place, and-“

Both of them jumped when Thace suddenly growled. She whirled around, and the guards brought up their weapons… but the alien’s eyes were closed, giant paws covering his middle as he hissed through his teeth. 

“Subject is exhibiting something similar to Braxton-Hicks contractions,” the doctor said, glasses askew, after he calmed down. Thace’s eyes were still shut, and she saw the tendons of his neck standing out as he clenched his jaw, taking deep, wheezing breathes. “But I can’t see much cervical effacement.”

Oh for the love of… “Mr. Thace?” she asked, turning towards him fully, and looking him in the face. “Are you in labor?”

His eyes flew open. “Not yet.” If she hadn’t listened to his actual voice for months she might have missed the note of concern in his voice, the worry. But his nostrils had flared, while his ears had pinned to his head, and his fingers curled up into fists. 

She realized he was _terrified_.

His lover was gone, the two children Thace felt responsible for were out of sight, and they had him naked on a bench while inspecting his genitals. They hadn’t hurt him, but as far as he knew, they were dead. As far as he knew, they were getting ready to rip his fetus out of him.

As far as he knew, he would have to fight his way out of there or die trying.

She made a decision. She didn’t want to watch when the doctor started doing the transvaginal ultrasound- she hated those- so she walked out of the door and grabbed a radio.

She turned back in time to see what looked to be a tiny, if fully formed, human baby squirming about on the screen.

She fought down the urge to coo and squeal at the sight. The doctor, on the other hand, seemed rather disgusted, even as he reported that he saw nothing wrong with the baby. 

“Is he likely to get much bigger?” She asked Thace. His expression as he looked at the image was blank, but it was softer than earlier. He looked… She gave into the urge to take one of his hands, and gave it a squeeze.

“I hope not,” Thace murmured, blinking in surprise. Colleen chuckled. 

“I remember looking at Matt and thinking the same thing,” she told him. “My son, when I was pregnant with him, was huge.” She gestured at herself, and her tiny frame, before spreading her hands out to how big Matt had been. The muscles in Thace’s jaw relaxed, and she reckoned that this was the closest he would ever get to his jaw hanging open. “He turned three this year.” 

She kept up the bright, meaningless chatter. And when the doctor approached with long, thick needle, she knocked it out of his hand and _glared_ , before grabbing him and pulling him out of the room.

“Are you fucking nuts?” she hissed. “Do you _want_ him to stab you with your own syringe? He put up with you taking a blood and urine sample but now you want to do a fucking amnio? You put his baby in danger and he’s likely to kill everyone in the room!”

The doctor scowled at her. “Holt, everything we know about science suggests that this fetus is impossible. This alien’s body is probably the most bizarre instance of convergent evolution that I have ever seen, given how it functions so closely to our own. But even then, Kogane could have gone into anaphylactic shock just touching him, or the alien might have been completely unable to eat our food. Just- it doesn’t make any sense!”

Colleen sighed in sympathy. Everyone in the Garrison had gone to stare at the shapes in the desert, looked at the readings, and wanted to know what was out there. Finding out that they weren’t alone was the biggest scientific find in human history. He was itching to find out more. 

“I get it. We want to know as much as we can about him. But he’s not some animal, he understands what you are saying, and he is on a hair trigger. Did you forget that he killed Jake’s brother without hesitating? That he _decapitated_ Joseph Kogane? He’s wants to protect that fetus,” she said, before poking him in the chest. “So think, you dumbass.”

He grunted. “You really shouldn’t be here.”

Colleen crossed her arms. “No one knows more about him than me. So shut up, finish up, and let’s get him calmed down so he won’t try to kill us all.”

~*~*~*~*~

Thace found himself bemused by the tiny human who had bossed around the doctor.

She had been there with the Garrison team that had taken them in, come with him when they were had brought himself and the children, and was now being oddly solicitous of his comfort. She had implied that she had been the one spying on him… and he tried to contain his unease. The whelp could sense his anxiety, and was shifting and twisting in his belly. He found himself purring to soothe them both.

_They_ had been eavesdropping when Thace had touched himself, thinking it was private and safe. _Someone_ had been listening the first time he had mustered his courage to kiss Jake, trying to bring him out of whatever dark place his mind had wandered. There had been _others_ listening every time Thace had given himself to Jake, heard him be weak and needy, begging for his human to touch him and breed him. 

Thace felt his stomach tighten in shame.

He had failed. The humans knew about him, about his mission, all because he had been undone by some alien smiling at him. He should have killed the humans when he fought his way out. He should have left Jake. He should have k-

He should have kil- k-

_Spirits_. 

The whelp turned over again, and Thace put his hands over his belly, taking a deep breath. He had done a lot of things he was not proud of in his life; most of them had been for the good of the mission of the Blades. Coming to Earth had been selfish, being overcome by his feelings for Jake had been selfish.

His son squirmed again, and Thace clenched his teeth. 

His son was… probably the one good, beautiful thing he had ever done. He couldn’t bring himself to even think of harming Jake. What was worse, while he felt shame that he had allowed himself this weakness… he would do it again. All of it. In a heartbeat.

He just had to wait until the right moment. He had to get the children and Jake and leave- preferably before-

The woman came back in, followed by the doctor. She had a huge, insincere smile on her face, and he was scowling. 

“Mr. Thace, we’ve finished the physical examination,” she said, and the doctor’s scowl became deeper. “We want to talk to you for a while now.”

Thace propped himself up on his elbows, grunting and wheezing as the whelp shifted upwards. When the time came to fight, he would need to rely on cunning more than force.

The human woman’s lips quirked upwards as he sat up. He towered over her, but she didn’t cringe. Instead, she grabbed a sheet and tossed it over his shoulders. “Better?”

He stared at her, pulling the sheet around his body.

“Come with me,” she said, and Thace hesitated until the guards pointed their weapons. She turned and gestured. “Mr. Thace. Come with me.”

He got up to follow, walking slowly over the slick tiled floors. The thick, rough pads of his feet were able to grip well enough, but he found he was soon limping as the cold soaked into his mostly-healed foot. The woman didn’t look back, but she did slow when she realized he was having trouble keeping up. 

Eventually, after several twists and turns and Thace was stopping to hiss as another pain went through his belly, they came to another room. The woman was standing there, along with another human, this one wearing a more elaborate device on the front of his uniform. He could only assume that this was one of the human’s superiors.

There was also a loud whine from the direction of his knees. Looking down, Thace dropped without thinking, letting the sheet fall as Princess wagged her tail and writhed all over him. He buried his hands in her thick ruff, scratched her ears, and found himself pinned almost on his back as she fought to drape herself over his lap. Across the room, he heard a chorus of whimpers from a box against the wall.

“We thought you might need some reassurance, Mr. Thace,” the woman said. “I’m Colleen Holt, by the way. I knew Jake growing up.” She shrugged a shoulder. “We used to be friends.”

“You talk to us, we’ll let you talk to the kids tonight.” At Thace’s narrowed eyes, she put up her hands. “We aren’t going to harm them. They’ve been fed and they’re a little bored, but we’ve called in some counselors to help them deal with what happened.” Her smile was bleak. “They could deal with meeting you without flinching, but their father…”

He looked away. “Capturing him would have been impossible, and a risk I could not take.”

The man with them finally spoke. “We happen to agree with you.” He pushed a chair over to Thace to help him get to his feet, picking up the sheet to put over his shoulders again and limp to the box, kneeling to check the pups. “For one thing, you aren’t exactly spry at the moment. Another, you couldn’t have kept him quiet.”

Thace merely narrowed his eyes, but he ignored them as he inspected the pups, smelled them for pain or distress. Princess leaned against him, panting into his ear and sneaking in licks to his face. “You act as though I was only protecting myself. I assure you, I was not.” Satisfied that they were not injured, he settled the pups against each other and got to his feet. 

Colleen Holt poked the man. He sighed. “My name is Commander Iverson.” He pulled out the chair on the other side of the table, and put a large bag on top of it. Thace traced the letters of the plastic bag with his eyes, trying to read them.

Then Colleen opened it, and the smell sparked his memory. “It’s Taco Bell,” she said apologetically. “Not the same as your tuna salad tacos, of course, but we thought they might be more palatable for you than the canteen food.”

Both of the humans took one- and Thace snatched Colleen’s out of her hands- before they ate and he sat at the table. It was a bit soggy, and when Jake tried to make his own they were much better, but having food on his stomach helped ease the queasy worry. He fed the last one to Princess, who had put her head on his knee.

“Now. Cards on the table,” and Thace grimaced at the confusing metaphor, “we heard most of what you said about your mission. We left you alone at first because we figured that, once you had healed enough, you would leave and we would catch you and talk to you then.”

Thace twitched, getting up and heading back to the chair. “If you know so much, why ask me now?”

“You said your people are looking for whatever it is that is out in the desert.” Inverson’s face was grim. “What we want to know is how long we have until they get here.”

~*~*~*~*~

Jake came out of anesthesia in fits and starts.

He felt numb, heavy, weighed down like he was tied to the bed by his own body. Coming out of surgery wasn’t new to him, but he had hoped to never experience this again.

He was aware of facing the wall with the door on his right. The first time he woke up there was a nurse, checking his vitals. The next time, he heard a door open and shut, and soft whispers, small voices and little hands patting his own.  
The kids were all right. _The kids were all right_.

Somehow that meant he could allow himself to fall even deeper to sleep.

The next time Jake awoke, he heard a deep purring beside his ear. He smiled, despite himself. His half-awake mind placed him at home, with Thace sprawling out on their bed, purring and sometimes chattering in his sleep. He tried to reach out, to tangle his fingers in Thace’s hair-

And couldn’t move his arm. 

His eyes opened, and he inhaled; his lungs didn’t want to inflate and the air was thick as soup. The purring tapered to a stop. “Be calm,” Thace murmured, and Jake tilted his head to look him. “What do you remember?”

“My damn fool brother shooting up my house,” Jake croaked, and his eyes widened. “The kids-“ Then he felt them go wild. “Thace, what the fuck are you doing here?” Thace couldn’t have followed him to a hospital, because- 

Then this meant-

He didn’t see the hand with the cup full of Sprite that suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. 

“He’s been pretty good for us, up until now,” a voice interrupted, and Jake scowled, then coughed. His throat was raw, but damn if he was taking that drink yet. “The kids are fine, we got them off to school today without a problem. You’ve been out for two days. Your boyfriend has cooperated so we let him stay here with you.”

“Birdie, what the hell-“ he said, more in a rasp, than anything else. 

“Come on, Jake, this was always going to happen, or something like it.” She offered the drink to Thace, who gave Jake this heartbroken stare that he had to have learned from Princess. And there was no defense against it: he opened his mouth for the straw without more resistance. Thankfully the drink helped.

“Yes, I always imagined my brother coming to kill me,” he said after a few gulps. Thace put the drink down and Jake felt his hair being stroked. Thace, he had figured out, needed physical contact when he was unnerved or unhappy or afraid. Jake just wished he could muster the energy to get out of bed and cuddle him properly. As it was, keeping his eyes open felt like he wrestling an angel. 

“Look. I’ve been the one doing most of the eavesdropping,” Colleen said after a moment. “And I get it. You two were both lonely people and you make each other happy. But – god, Jake- what the hell were you going to do? Everyone knows you’re gay. Just show up and say ‘Hey, this is my baby!’ without anyone asking about it?” Then she looked down at Thace. “And you…” She exhaled, and turned away. “You know you couldn’t stay in his house forever.”

Thace made a sound that would have done Princess proud and nearly made _Jake_ cry, even if Thace couldn’t. 

“Jake, you had a few plans started on how to care for the baby. But now you’ve been shot, and Joe’s in two places at once, and both of them are hell. You can’t go back to your little nest in your mom’s old house. I know how much you would like to, but it’s not happening.” She sighed. 

A low, pained growl suddenly shook the bed, and Jake and Colleen looked up in time to see Thace’s face contort in pain. And to Jake’s surprise, Thace let Colleen come over to rub his back and neck. 

“On top of that, Jake… well. We’re going to make an offer you can’t really refuse.”


	11. Chapter 11

A few days later, and Thace wasn’t leaving the closet. 

Jake had Thace’s head in his lap, both of them in the nest that Colleen had helped them build. It had a few large air mattresses, covered in blankets and towels, and every pillow the Garrison could spare. It was narrow, dark and close. 

What really broke Jake’s heart though, was that Thace was apologizing.

“That’s enough of that,” Jake whispered into his ear. His good hand kept stroking Thace’s hair while he listened to him purr. “You ain’t done nothing wrong.” 

A week ago, Thace was napping in the closet in his house, but he could get out and around to eat, to bathe, to watch TV and play with Princess. To sleep in Jake’s bed with Jake there. But now that sense of safety was gone, and Thace’s nesting instincts had apparently told him to go to ground. Find a place where no one would see him. The few times Jake had managed to leave the closet himself, he had returned to find Thace curled up and purring to himself, hugging Jake’s shirt to himself.

He asked Thace about it, to see if this as normal- he wasn’t ashamed to ask for help, even from the Garrison, if Thace was sick- but Thace just sort of laughed. Hysterically. Because, he said, he had never expected to live long enough for this to happen to him. He had never considered the possibility of getting pregnant, and while he had heard of others of his kind being like this…

“You’re gonna be fine, Thace.” A lie, but sometimes you needed those. Especially when they had both noticed the pains going through Thace’s belly were less than half an hour apart now. “Humans do something like this. Momma went crazy, cleaning up when Joe was born. So did Brenda. She had come over for… She had come over, and suddenly I had a brand new, clean kit-“

Thace cut him off with a growl. The last few days had been full of these moments, where Thace would close his eyes and breathe, letting the pain wash over him and hoping it gets to the other side quickly. It mixed with the purr, which never seemed to end. 

The growl tapered off about twenty seconds later, but they were definitely getting longer.

“I was thinking about names,” Jake said after he had finished. “We hadn’t really talked about it before.”

Thace rolled onto his back, gasping a little, before looking up into Jake’s face. “My people usually don’t try to do names before the birth,” he said after a moment. “Especially if… we plan to leave the whelp later.”

Jake’s fingers went still. “I’d still appreciate your input.”

“He needs a human name,” Thace pointed out. “A Galra name would not serve him here.”

“Really? You never thought about it?” Jake asked. “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time.”

“You would.” Thace put his hands on his belly, a gesture Jake thought was as self-soothing as the purring. “Very well. I had considered-“ and the string of sounds he made had a few tones and trills that, for once, the translator didn’t seem to catch, but he did think he understood something.

“That sounds like Akira?” The note was off, but… close enough. Thace tilted his hand back and forth. 

“Similar.”

“How about Keith Akira?”

Thace shrugged, and looked away, but when Jake took his hand, he squeezed so hard he felt the bones shift. “Why Keith?”

“Oh, it was my Papaw’s nickname. Kogane Akira, but he went by Keith,” Jake explained. “… that okay?”

Thace blinked, several times, before his lips twisted upwards. “It’s perfect.”

~*~*~*~*~

Try as he might to remember, the next day was a blur in his memory.

He remembered panic, whenever Jake left their nest. It wasn’t rational; he knew very well that Jake had to leave for food, to remove wastes, to bathe or communicate with or receive treatment from the Garrison medics. But every time it happened, he felt his stomach plummet to his knees, a keen close his throat and roaring in his ears while his skin and fur went hot and cold. He would hug his belly and force the whispers in his mind _(they were taking Jake, they were going to steal his whelp, he had failed, failed failed)_ into silence. 

He remembered the pains, coming and going, trying to breathe and let them flow, trying to remember everything he could from school about what was happening to him. The humans were afraid to try any kind of medication, because none of them knew how it would impact him or the whelp. So he was left getting up and pacing at first, and both Jake and Colleen (the only other human he would allow in; he had physically thrown out any others) would massage his back and shoulders and legs, coming and going to get hot towels to ease the ache.

He remembered _wet_ , a gush between his legs as his water broke, stuttering out what happened to both Colleen and Jake. He remembered _push_ , the urge hitting him when the pains came close together. Jake and Colleen had been kind, encouraging, keeping the other humans out as he squat down, letting gravity help the whelp move.

He didn’t remember how much longer it was, wasn’t sure he wanted to. He just remembered trying to breathe through it, listening to Jake promise that things would be all right. Keith was almost here. He remembered strain and _relief_ amidst the pain as the whelp crowned, and Jake and Colleen both working to catch him as he finally slid free.

He heard Jake cry out, though, whispering prayers as they cut the cord, dried and wrapped the whelp in blankets and put him against Thace’s bare chest. 

“He’s perfect, Handsome,” Jake murmured, kissing Thace’s forehead as he dropped from his squat, hissing in pain as he fell onto his back. He could still feel the contractions, but they barely registered against the overwhelming feeling of wonder at his son finally being in his arms. “Small, but he’s-“

Thace laughed, weakly, softly, but… “For a Galra whelp, he is huge.” He could feel his body pushing out the afterbirth; it felt like someone was ripping off a bandage inside himself but it hurt less than what had just happened. He could put it aside. 

Instead he focused on the whelp, who had let out a lusty wail when he first felt cold air but had calmed now that he was bare skin on fur against Thace. 

Jake took him to clean him off, before putting him back in Thace’s arms; his skin was the same shade as his sire’s, under a huge shock of black hair that stood up from his head. Dark eyes, so black as to be purple, blinked up at Thace in an expression of utter distaste at being someplace cold and bright… but he calmed as Thace purred, knowing the feel and the sound of it. 

“He has definitely got your scowl,” Colleen said, from over Thace’s shoulder. “But he looks like a mini-Jake. Human babies, this the best time to try feeding them. Do you know how?”

Thace exhaled, putting Keith’s face to his chest. He nearly jumped out of his hide when Keith latched on the closest teat and began suckling; the sensation was strange but not unpleasant. 

So small. Keith was very, very big for a Galra infant, but he was still so small, so tiny- he barely covered Thace’s palm- and completely helpless. Fragile. Innocent of his dam’s crimes and probably damned because of them.

Thace had _no_ idea what to feel. Joy because Jake was wonderful and Keith was perfect and he couldn’t breathe, chest aching with it. Guilt because they both deserved so much better than him, who would have to leave because there was no happy ending to this story and they all knew it.

~*~*~*~*~

Jake tangled his fingers into Thace’s hair as he nursed their son. He whispered into Thace’s ear how proud he was, how well Thace had done, and all the while trying to keep the tears off his face.

Thace’s smile back was exhausted as he stroked Keith’s tiny head. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Everything,” Thace murmured. “Just…” he crooned as Keith cooed. “Everything.” He leaned into Jake, despite their size difference… and Jake was happy his shoulder was still numbed. “I,” he said, and paused, pulling Jake’s hand out of his hair and putting it to his lips. “I was afraid of this. Afraid of…” He looked down at their son. “But he’s yours and he’s perfect.”

Jake had never killed anyone in his life, despite his time as a soldier and a medic. And he had no idea how he was going to get into space. 

But right then he wanted to find every single person who had made Thace fear his own goddamn body and introduce them to his boom stick.

“He is,” Jake whispered. There had been some concern from the eggheads. On Earth, even in two species that were closely related, there were a hella lot of things that could go wrong if they bred. And given the very short gestation period, everyone was whispering that Keith might not be fully developed.

But other than being tiny, he seemed perfectly formed, breathing easily, and a healthy color. Which was a good thing because absolutely no one was coming in that door until Thace was ready, and even the door opening had him scooting back and away, and Jake getting between the door and Thace because fuck them.

It was just Colleen, bringing in some ice packs.

Jake stroked Thace’s cheek with his thumb.

“We’re going to get out of here soon,” he whispered. “I promise.”

He and Colleen had been working out the details for the past few days; Thace had added his contributions when he was coherent. They didn’t have much in the way of options when it came to the immediate future. Thace said he could probably fight soon, but didn’t specify… which, after knowing Thace for almost half a year, told Jake that what he meant was “You take the baby, I’ll kill everyone in our way and probably get gunned down doing it.”

That wasn’t a plan.

Jake needed pain medication; he wasn’t going to be able to function without it. They needed to make sure that Keith was healthy. Thace needed to be healed up enough to run if they had to; he had been in labor for sixteen hours. It was a goddamn miracle that only his skin had torn, not any muscle or had any deeper injuries. 

Not that he seemed to notice right then. He was entranced with Keith, rocking back and forth and murmuring soft promises of love and safety… and apologizing for not being the mother he deserved. Not being able to give him anything. 

_I’m sorry._

Jake bit down a curse. “I told you, handsome.” He pressed his forehead to Thace’s. “You ain’t done nothing wrong.”

~*~*~*~*~

Colleen managed to slip in a doctor after Thace had finally fallen asleep, holding Keith to his chest, with Jake draped over him.

Keith was about probably just a shy of three pounds; he should have been in the NICU at the closest hospital as soon as he was born.

That he was otherwise disgustingly healthy was something she chalked up to ‘weird alien shit.’ Like being able to breed with aliens or being purple. 

She profoundly wished they could have gotten a different doctor, but there weren’t that many who had the clearance to know about Thace, let alone the actual purpose of the Garrison. Keeping the circle of information small was something she planned to use to her advantage, later. It was also why she hadn’t been kicked out summarily. She _knew_ too much, she was too useful, and finding a replacement would take too long. 

And while Dr. Nix was a complete asshole, he was good at his job.

She could tell when Thace woke up- the purring stumbled- but he didn’t open his eyes.

“I have some clothes for Keith,” she said when he didn’t react at all, save a tensing along his shoulders. “And no. No poking or prodding you. We took the afterbirth and the cord blood, so we don’t need much else.”

Thace’s eyes opened, adjusting Keith against his chest. 

“We’re not going to take him out of the room. Promise. Just let us take some measurements. Nothing invasive.”

She had crouched down in front of him, not making direct eye contact, appearing as harmless as possible. “It’s the same thing they did when I had my son,” she said. Trying to make a bond with him. Thace had been operating more on instinct than rational thought for the past few days. 

He still refused to speak, but he did loosen his grip, and Colleen cooed appropriately as she took the baby. “Yes, it’s okay sweetie,” she murmured. She put Keith in her lap while the doctor did a cursory examination, giving him antibiotic drops in his eyes.

She had a clean baby blanket and some diapers. “Think you’ll be able to move soon?” she asked. “Jake will probably sleep better on a bed,” she added, for some extra encouragement. 

He nodded. It was good to see sense returning to his eyes. 

She helped him put a clean diaper on Keith once the doctor had finished. And left. While Thace glared at him. Really, his skin should have caught fire.

Jake slept the sleep of the just and the very drugged, and didn’t awaken when the doctor left. “We’ll probably be getting ready to run pretty soon,” she whispered to him. “I’ll be getting supplies together. Just… just be ready.”

Thace nodded again. “Thank you,” he said, finally. “You are more generous than I deserve.”

She snorted, then smiled, and picked up his hand. There were still bits of chipped nail polish on the nails. “I’m sorry us humans are treating you so poorly.” She squeezed and let go, walking out the door as Thace curled back up with Keith and Jake, eyes closing to go back to sleep.

Colleen let herself out.

Iverson stood just outside the door. “Sir,” she asked, after a moment of her jaw flapping.

“How goes the escape planning?” he asked after a moment, sounding like a parent catching his child in the act of conspiring against their babysitter. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir,” she said without hesitation.

“Holt, I’ve known you _and_ Kogane for ten years. Don’t treat me like I’m an idiot,” he retorted. His face softened. “How’s the baby?”

“… normal, sir,” she said. “The eggheads are going crazy examining the cord blood and placenta. But the boy is healthy as other newborn. Not to mention having Jake’s giant puppy eyes.”

Iverson cracked a smile and looked away. “The alien?”

“Not sure.” She took a deep breath. “Most of what I heard indicated that he was an emotional mess before coming here. I’m concerned that he’ll go crazy and do some actual harm to himself or someone else.”

Iverson grimaced, looking into the middle distance. “I would give my damn eyeteeth to see his ship. But he’s probably got people coming for him later. Goddamnit.” His shoulders dropped. “Let’em think they escaped on their own. We’ll keep an eye on them so they don’t cause trouble. But that thing is the desert isn’t going anywhere.” 

Years ago, the army had made Jake Kogane leave a soldier behind. He had chosen not to sign on for another tour. After that he had joined the Garrison and… they had hidden and allowed a lot of abuses before Iverson took command and put a stop to them. That didn’t meant that he put a stop to their more shady practices- they had a mandate to keep that thing in the desert _safe_ \- but he didn’t treat their people like they were disposable. 

Colleen kept her face neutral. “Anything else, sir?”

“Let ‘em recoup before they run. I don’t want a blood trail or a justifiable homicide. We fucked up by getting Joe involved and I don’t want a repeat of that. You can hit up the Goodwill with Sam and see about getting them some baby stuff.” He tilted his head to the side. “This stays under the table.” He looked back over at the closet that was both recovery room and safe haven for their erstwhile guests. 

Colleen swallowed the unexpected lump in her throat. “On it, sir.”


	12. Chapter 12

Colleen set up the escape, three weeks later: during a shift change, covered up the cameras, retrieved Thace’s effects, and gave them a bag of medical and baby supplies. 

She also went to the extra effort of scrounging together a half-dozen new identities and places where they might settle, included in a folder inside the bag. There was a camera… and she hoped that Jake, at least, would understand why it was there.

They _all_ knew that Thace would have to leave. Today, next week, next month… Keith would deserve to know, and to see evidence that the parent who disappeared from his life loved him. It also had a transmitter to send those pictures back to the Garrison. 

They had a vested interest in monitoring Keith’s growth, after all.

She had laid in a few careful decoys. There was an obvious transmitter in the plush bear. There was a less obvious on in the USB.

That, she hoped, was enough to keep them noticing the small tracking device that had been implanted in Jake during surgery. Tracking Thace would be useless. Well, maybe not _useless_ , but impractical. Everything he said implied that he wasn’t even from the Milky Way. The information from the tracker would be potentially invaluable… and take millennia to reach Earth.

She did think they suspected something, and while Jake wasn’t anywhere near as cagey as Thace, he was no idiot. 

She bid them farewell, bopped baby Keith on the nose (and he had gone from two pounds to nearly six, eating, sleeping and growing ferociously) and gave Princess a head scratch before they left. 

The first tracker went dead less than an hour after their escape. The second took about a day.

They didn’t find the one in Jake’s shoulder. 

Time passed. They moved around a lot. About two weeks after their escape, the eyes they had on Jake’s ex-sister-in-law Brenda told them that he had checked in on her. She was recovering. Eventually they arranged a meeting, and Jake brought Keith. The kids, remarkably enough, had kept the secret of Thace’s existence, but they went crazy at meeting their cousin. 

Jake had left with several more bags of used baby-goods, and then ‘officially’ disappeared again. Which was a good thing.

He was the only suspect in his brother’s murder, after all, and there was a warrant out for his arrest.

The pictures starting coming in a few weeks after their first disappearance. The first one was a picture of Keith in Thace’s arms, sleeping the sleep of the well-fed and dry. What struck Colleen the most was seeing Thace look... serene. He wasn’t smiling, but his nose was in the sleeping baby’s hair, eyes half closed, one of his massive hands holding Keith as he laid back in an odd chair that was, for once, scaled to Thace’s huge frame. His face and neck were loose, relaxed, like he was about to fall asleep. 

The second picture was the same, coming a second afterwards. It was exactly the same save for Thace meeting Jake’s eyes. Colleen bit her lip to hold back a laugh at the faint crease of his lips and the lift at the corners of his eyes. She had given that same look to Sam, when Matt was laughing, or the first time he had planted a kiss on her cheek. 

The look said _more please_.

The third shot had Thace grabbing for the camera.

The egg heads _loved_ that first glance at the ship. They went over everything they could, trying to understand the underlying physics of it. 

There were more pictures, of course. Keith grew like kudzu, seemingly bigger in every shot. His first smile even had Iverson smiling back. There were shots of him with Princess, asleep among the puppies (who were also growing, but normally), his first bath (small, tiny baby, his expression so surprised) the first time he lifted his head (so excited, he looked so proud of himself!) and the first time he tried solid food ( _ohboy_. Shock! Surprise!) 

Jake took selfies, too, of himself and Keith, Princess and the puppies. 

There were other subjects, too. One was of Thace holding a fishing pole and looking baffled. The subsequent image had the pole discarded, and Thace holding a bass in hand. The third image had him beside a small pile of them.

Now, Sam and Iverson _both_ had laughed at that. 

It continued on, for over a year. Keith grew, but a third of the pictures of him were nestled in Thace’s arms, against his chest and either cuddling or sleeping or nursing. 

A little after Keith’s first birthday, a very strange picture came in. Jake was holding Keith; at one year old he could toddle about on his sturdy legs, and the most recent shots were of him trying ice cream and then climbing Thace like a tree. For all of their strange circumstances, he was a _happy_ baby. But here he was hiding his face, his ears bright red, and his cheeks were smudged with tears. Jake’s fingers were threaded through his hair, pulling him close. His eyes were dry, but his lips were pulled back from his teeth in a grimace of pain. 

Thace held them both in his lap, arms loose, eyes closed, lips against Jake’s hair. 

It was the last picture they ever received. She never did find out who took the picture.

~*~*~*~*~

_We needed you back._

Ulaz voice was still ringing in his ears. 

_The Emperor is getting closer to finding the weapon. Already he seeks the Red Lion. We need you in place. We need you causing diversion, confusion, doubt. We can’t let Zarkon come any closer to uncovering all of Voltron._

Thace had followed his young friend- someone he had once mentored as a spy and saboteur- back to the Blade of Mamora Base.

_We allowed you this lapse, because many of us have shared your fear. But you have delayed too long._

“I would have stayed forever, if you had let me,” he said to the memory. “I should have. I should have torn out your eyes when you came for me.” Not that it mattered now.

He had left. _He had left._

_I won’t tell Kolivan or the others. They don’t need to know. I’m glad you found some happiness._

Thace covered his face in his hands. His chest shook, a desperate keen of grief closing his throat as he fought to keep from screaming and tearing the cockpit apart. 

He was on his way back to Zarkon’s command ship, his brood leave officially over. 

In four ticks ( _five minutes_ ) he would be back in his old life. 

He had left behind Jake, brave, gentle, sweet Jake who had thrown away his life to help him, without a second thought. He had left behind their son, precious, tiny Keith, just learning to walk and to babble and had called him Mama _first_. Who had been running and searching, bringing back stones and moss and feathers, bouncing into his lap to show Thace, trying to ride Princess, innocent, happy and carefree. 

He couldn’t breathe.

He could still smell Jake, feel his hands on Thace’s jaw, against his lips. He could see feel Keith’s small weight in his arms… Almost could still feel him squirming in his belly. He wanted to keep all of the memories: the taste of Jake’s mouth, the sound of Keith’s laughter. Muddy footprints from when Princess came in from the rain. 

_I should have fought to stay._

He hadn’t. He had done his duty, to return to the fight, because the Empire would come roll over Earth one day, crushing it under heel. He had gone back because he _knew_ what evils the Empire were capable of, and this world was too young and underdeveloped to put up a fight.

_Even if I knew there was no other way…_

He came in, parking his ship in the hangar. He didn’t immediately debark, giving himself time to breathe. To dig out the old mask before going back to what awaited him. 

Thace got to his feet. Walked down the boarding ramp. He felt eyes on him; knowing smirks, mostly. He requested a briefing and to be shown to his bunk.

He _almost_ made it.

Most of the time, people didn’t come back from brood leave. 

A large hand seemed to grab him from nowhere, shoving him back and away and into a wall. 

All around him was the scent of Galra. Powerful, superior, dominant… young. A body- larger than his own- crowded him in, a knee parting his legs. 

“Well, if it isn’t Lieutenant Thace,” Sendak purred, dragging his tongue down the side of his face. “Welcome back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the end, no. Nope. I made myself cry here. So I am not ending it here.


	13. Chapter 13

They had promised knowledge, or death.

But it wasn’t the knowledge Keith had wanted.

He wasn’t quite sure how long the trial had gone on; endless fighting combined with those visions, the bittersweet feeling of seeing his Dad again, even if it was just in a dream, had made time blur. He was only dimly aware of his injuries, knew that he was in the Blade of Mamora med bay, stripped of the high-tech suit and in his briefs. He heard rustling, and out of the corner of his eye, Ulaz was puttering around for supplies.

Most of it was drowned out by what he had learned: he had Galra blood. The dagger had awakened. The reason he had never fit in, the reason he had always been outcast. The reason his Dad had moved him from school to school, kept him from doctors and police, had only let him visit his cousins on special occasions… Why he had been convinced that aliens were real.

His Dad had been right, obviously. 

Ulaz came into view, accompanied by a floating tray. He put one of his thick fingers under Keith’s chin, inspecting his face, and reached for a small tube. “Nothing here is deep enough or severe enough to warrant using a ‘refresher unit,” he announced solemnly. He dabbed the tube, which seemed to full of some sort of clear liquid, over the cuts on his face. It smelled sharp but clean, like rosemary, and it tingled as it went over his skin, numbing the aches. 

“Are you happy with what you discovered?”

Keith blinked at him as he finished brushing it over a split in his eyebrows. 

“I don’t think happy was ever going to matter. I needed to know,” he rasped. Ulaz made a clicking noise in the back of his throat, and turned away. He returned with a pouch of white liquid. 

He almost lifted an eyebrow at it, but his face hurt too much. So instead he put the straw in his mouth for a sip. He could barely smell it, and all he got was a hint of cardamom. All he tasted was sweet and creamy, warm, and oddly soothing for his sore throat.

“But you don’t seem satisfied,” Ulaz said after he had finished, and tilted Keith’s head to the side to look at the cuts on his neck. He reached for a different tube.

“I have Galra blood. What does that mean? How did a Galra get to Earth? What was she doing there? Mama-“ he couldn’t remember her, no matter how hard he tried. Just… Feelings. Safety. Warmth. Big. “What happened to her? Why did she leave?” he heard himself say, soft and plaintive. “I always thought… I always thought I made her mad, somehow-“

Ulaz dropped his hands, frowning. “Your dam would be upset. But not because of anything you did.”

Keith blinked. “What?”

Ulaz sighed. “Wait a moment.”

Confusion, frustration and no small anticipation cleared the remaining fog from his mind. Ulaz had to have been almost ten minutes… about eight ticks? Whatever. It seemed to last an eternity when the pale Galra returned.

“Forgive me. And please, forgive Kolivan and the rest of the Blade of Marmora for not telling you more. They simply had no more information for you.”

Keith narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“They would have suspected the identity of your dam, but they would feel awkward discussing the subject. Moreover, they had no direct knowledge because your dam and I chose not to inform them of your existence.”

And now Keith was sitting straight up, staring at Ulaz as he put something in his hands. 

An old digital camera. 

“It took some time for me to charge it,” he explained. “And your dam had it well hidden.” 

It was heavier than a modern camera, Keith noted. And most of the labels had been worn off from handling. The casing was cracked, too. But the ‘on’ button was almost universally on the top, so-

The first picture that came up was of his Dad, looking young and happy, holding a squealing, dark-haired baby over his head. It was labeled as 38/341.

“He usually wants to look at that one,” Ulaz said, when Keith glanced up at him. “There are many others.”

Keith swallowed, thumbing the dial to go forward. His throat and chest ached.

Dad looked so, so young right then.

The next few shots were odd, he noted. They were of himself and his Dad, together, but the angles were strange. All of them were looking down. The person taking them was very tall.

“What was she like?” he asked, just above a whisper. “My mother.”

Ulaz made an odd sound. “Strong. Your dam is an excellent warrior, someone to be admired. Devoted to the cause. The Blade of Marmora asked for many sacrifices from your dam.”

Keith had only been half listening, moving from one picture to another, occasionally getting a glimpse of a hand, or a finger, but-

He stopped, swallowed.

The camera angle was looking down; Keith guessed it was Dad taking it. The Galra was looking up, eyes half-shut, lips curled at the corners as baby Keith suckled, tiny fingers gripping his purple fur. 

He was glad he was sitting down. “That’s…” _That’s not a woman_ , he almost said. “That’s my mother?”

“The word you are using implies gender and sex, correct?” 

The next picture was of a both the Galra and Keith yawning together. Another picture was the Galra giving Keith a bath. Reading a book. Scratching the head of… was that Princess? 

“We don’t. For the sake of simplicity, we consider ourselves male, but start out life capable of siring children. After a time, we can carry whelps, but we cannot do both simultaneously.”

There were a few group selfies; seeing his Dad cheek to cheek with the Galra was… sweet. There were pictures were they sometimes looked annoyed. There was one, where Keith had obvious spat up all over the Galra’s back when he had been burped, that had pure disgust.

“I was sent to retrieve him.”

Keith stopped on the picture of all three of them on a bed, Keith sprawled asleep between his parents, and the camera held overhead. The next shot was the Galra and Dad kissing. 

He didn’t realize he was crying until the drops hit the screen.

“She- I mean, he’s… he’s still alive?”

“For the moment, yes.” And now Keith almost dropped the camera, jaw dropping. “He is one of our best operatives, Keith. But there was never a quintent that went by that he didn’t think of you. But until we have completed our plans to defeat Zarkon, I will not let him know you are here, or let you know his name.”

“What the-“ Keith almost sprang to his feet, but Ulaz pushed him back.

Ulaz exhaled. “It is for his sake, not yours, that I do this. He has a job to do. Being distracted from it would get you both killed.”

Keith wiped his face, quickly, before Ulaz offered one more thing.

It was a book. The edges were foxed, and the paper cover had gotten soaked at some point and was unreadable, and the title page was covered in red scribbles. But he knew the book.

_Love You Forever._

Keith choked.

“For the first week after he came back he read this every quintent,” Ulaz said. “At approximately the same time, until his duties carried him elsewhere. And when he had a chance to return here, he would do the same again.”

Keith’s hands trembled as he picked up the book. He remembered warm rumbles, soft words, a smell like crushed autumn leaves and milk. Almost singing as he chanted the words of the book. For years after, his Dad had read it to him every night at eight o’clock, saying that wherever Mama was, she was reading it too.

He held it to his chest and bawled.

~*~*~*~*~

Keith had heard the name Thace, and had leapt into action to defend the Blade of Marmora agent. They took out the first druid quickly, but the second…

It was pretty obvious that Thace was injured, but he still managed to hold his own well enough. It was a tricky fight; but together they managed to take out the second druid.

“Thace? I’m Keith. A Paladin of Voltron,” he said by way of introduction. After all, no use-

The spy’s back was towards him for a split second as he leaned down to pick up his sword, grunting in pain, before he shot back up.

“What did you say your name was?” he asked. One of his eyes was bloody and swollen, and Keith could see a wound similar to Shiro’s, glowing in the dim light. But his one good eye burned in shock. “Where did you get that blade?”

And the universe _screeched_ to a halt.

“My- my name is…” he felt his voice go soft, as he took a good look, a second look, past the age and the armor and the beaten face. He licked his lips. “I’m Keith Akira Kogane.” 

Thace limped forward, his blade returning to dagger form, sheathing it. His voice trembled. “You- you can’t-“ he said, taking the helmet off Keith’s head, staring into Keith’s face. “Please. You can’t be.” He leaned in, and Keith went still as the Galra took a deep breath, scenting him. “You can’t be.”

Keith swallowed hard, fighting down a sob. “Mama?” he breathed, almost unable to speak. Thace’s knees buckled, dropping him to the deck, even as he crushed Keith to his armored chest.

A deep, rolling sound came from Thace, from… Keith’s heart jumped and squeezed as Thace pulled away, both hands cupping his face, thumbs wiping away his tears.

“Why are you- how-?” he asked, and Keith fought the urge to curl up against Thace, tuck his thumb in his mouth and fall asleep. _I found my mother. My dam. Whatever._

“Long story,” he finally said. “You?” he asked, putting a hand on the glowing shards of his broken armor and beaten face. 

Thace suddenly smiled. “Druid hospitality isn’t as good as Texan.”

The laugh surprised the hell out of Keith, coming so deep and sharp and hysterical that Thace had to brace him to keep him from falling over. 

They both sobered, though, when they heard the small tinny voice coming from Keith’s helmet.

 _“Things are getting hairy out here! Keith! How’s it going?”_ Lance yelped.

Keith ran to the door controls, and sliced through them. “We’ve been locked out…” he glanced over at Thace, who was now kneeling in front of the control panels. “But we’re trying to find a workaround.”

_“We? Who’s we?”_

Keith went blank. He _almost_ said ‘Mama’ but… “Thace. I found him.” He laughed, and he could hear Lance sputtering. “I found him.”

_“That’s nice, but we’re kinda in trouble out here!”_

“We’re working on it,” he said, turning back to Thace, who had opened up the control panel. “And… what are we working on?”

“I’m going to reroute the main power through the control panel,” he said grimly. 

“You’re turning the room into a bomb?” Keith said, feeling himself go faint. 

“It’s the only way.” He wouldn’t meet Keith’s eyes. “You need to leave. Now.”

Keith shook his head. “No. Just- no. I just found you again. I’m not going to leave you here-“

Thace looked up, and his smile was bitter, brutal and relieved. “It’s okay, child. I got to see you again, and you are more than I ever could have imagined.”

 _“And you are being needlessly dramatic,”_ a voice interrupted on the line. Ulaz. _“I have a back door I worked into the system. Thace, let me walk you through it.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I appreciate everyone support, and your comments. Probably one or two more chapters now.
> 
> ...
> 
> I couldn't do it. Make it too tragic. I like Ulaz and Thace too much. Sigh.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have ever needed a good cry, I recommend the book "I'll Love You Forever" because it is very, very sweet. 
> 
> http://www.rogerknapp.com/inspire/loveforever.htm

Keith, carefully guiding a floating tray of food, with a bundle of clothing tucked under his arm, stepped inside the door of the med bay, opening his mouth to tell Ulaz he had returned… And stopped.

Coran and Ulaz were both hovering over the controls of the ‘refresher pod that held Thace, murmuring to each other, expressions grave.

“What’s wrong?” Keith asked, feeling his throat close up as cold dread settled into his stomach.

It had been two days since they had tucked tail and ran away from Zarkon’s command ship, after the fall of the Emperor. Two days since Shiro had vanished into the ether like he hadn’t existed. It had been two days of confusion and worry, as Keith tried desperately to fill a pair of enormous, empty boots and not being sure if he could. It had been two days since he had handed Thace off to Ulaz; his dam had passed out almost as soon as they had escaped.

It had been only one day since he had told Ulaz exactly what happened in the battle. 

While he couldn’t read Ulaz well, even he could tell that the pale Galra had taken Shiro’s loss hard.

“We were discussing the damage to Thace’s body,” Ulaz answered. “Nothing is irreversible,” he said after a moment. “But there was damage that the ‘refresher pod was not programmed to handle. Do not be concerned, the issue has been resolved.”

Coran pinched the bridge of his nose. “If you want to call it damage. But yes, it is ‘resolved.’” His eyebrow twitched. “And he will recover.” A sickly smile spread over his face. “From days of torture.”

“He will,” Ulaz responded, glancing at Keith, his face softening. “He has a strong reason to, now.”

Keith swallowed hard, looking down at his shoes. “So, bad?”

“He will come out well, and that is what matters,” Ulaz said firmly. “In fact-“

There was a hiss as the pod opened and the gas pressures equalized, and Thace opened his eyes.

And Keith suddenly felt _shy_. 

He still felt… so mixed, about his Mama. In his head, Mama had been someone who left him. A ghost that appeared whenever some asshole teacher would ask who took care of him. A weight, when some dickhead kid would taunt him about being raised by his Dad. A void when his Dad would tell him, over and over again, that Mama loved him, even if Mama wasn’t there. A mystery, because the only thing he had of her was the dagger.

The suspicion that Mama was an alien had come to him young, especially given Dad kept them moving his entire childhood, rarely took him to the doctor, and always dodged the law. But the truth…

“How long..?” Thace asked, blinking rapidly and coughing. Ulaz took his arm as he wobbled out, and helped him settle on to one of the steps. Thace took a deep breath, whispered his thanks, looked up- and froze when his gaze crossed Keith’s.

“Not too long,” Coran said. “Hm.” He suddenly looked back between Thace and Keith, and smoothed his mustache. “I’ll be going to check on some things. Let me know when you feel up for more people, all right? The rest of the Paladins want to meet you!” With a slight bow Coran left the med bay… and the venomous butterflies in Keith’s stomach doubled.

“Um.” How did Lance always manage to find words all the time? His tongue glued to the roof of his mouth. “Uh… Y-yeah… I have clothes!” Keith said, more like he yelped, holding out the Blade of Marmora uniform that he had retrieved from Ulaz’s quarters. “For you!”

Thace licked his lips. “Yes… it seems that you do.” He took the bundle. “Thank you.”

“Right.” He could do this. He… he wasn’t terrified, or sad, or just… he had no idea what he was supposed to do right then. “Okay.”

Thace put the bundle in his lap. Ulaz snorted, and dragged the tray down, putting it in front of Thace. “Rest, eat, drink something,” Ulaz urged him, then nearly slapped the spork out of Thace’s hand. “But not the green goo!”

“What’s wrong with it?” Thace asked, alarmed, grabbing the spork and licking some of the green off the back- and promptly puckered his lips, covering his mouth with one hand, shoulders convulsing as he forced himself to swallow.

Ulaz chuckled, and Keith felt himself deflate. “It’s Altean food.”

Keith noticed that the small, surreptitious looks that Thace kept sending towards him turned into an outright stare. “I thought that most of the Paladins were human-“

“They are. But the ship is Altean.”

Thace made a face, moving to one of the other plates- Keith had brought leftovers from dinner, and Hunk had been stress-cooking- and now Keith was able to relax. “Much better. I can tell a human made this.”

Keith shuffled his feet. “How do you know?” he said, finally forcing himself to speak.

Thace absently stirred the stew. “Your father… I was incredibly lucky,” he said, dropping to just above a whisper. “Jake loved caring for people. And that caring included feeding others.” His ears twitched, and Keith jumped when he heard Thace switch to English. “Stray dogs, his goats and chickens… even injured purple varmints like me.”

Keith felt his eyes water up despite himself. “Yeah. That sounds like him.” He sat down next to Thace. “That… yeah. Dad always…”

Thace took a bite, chewed and swallowed, dropping his gaze. “I’ve, I’ve imagined meeting you again, Keith. For years. Tried to imagine you as you grew. And wondered how I could explain.”

Keith crossed his arms, fighting the urge to fidget. “Ulaz showed me the pictures.”

“Hm.” He glanced at Ulaz, who lifted one shoulder to shrug. “Has he also told you of Galra biology? By human standards, I appear male, but-“

“Y-yeah,” Keith muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “That was… Dad always called you ‘Mama’ so-“

Thace chuckled. “You called me that, first. Your first word. Second word was puppy, and only _then_ did you manage-“ he stopped, and let the spork he was holding drop, head snapping up as he surged to his feet. Keith twisted around, seeing Kolivan at the door-

And he was swept back and behind Thace, who was groping for a sword he didn’t have.

“Stop that,” the Blade of Marmora leader growled. “He’s too old for me to smother, not to mention being a Paladin of Voltron.”

Thace didn’t budge, though. 

“It is ironic, isn’t it,” Kolivan said after a moment. “I was suspicious as soon as I saw the blade Keith wielded. And I remember you having lost yours.” His lips curled, ears flattened in discomfort. “You ran from your duty, only to wind up whelping anyways. But you were so desperate you couldn’t even chose one of your own-“

Ulaz put a hand Thace’s shoulder as he snarled.

Kolivan twitched. “And don’t think I won’t be discussing _your_ indiscretions-“

The crack of Ulaz fist against Kolivan’s nose echoed through the room. “That is none of your concern,” Ulaz hissed. 

Kolivan had been knocked back almost a meter; he ran his fist under his nose to clear the blood from his face. “I will make allowance for your grief, Ulaz. The last few days have been difficult for all of us.”

“I will make my own decisions, regardless,” the pale Galra replied, and Keith realized he only knew half of what was going on. 

On top of that- “Smother me?” he asked. “What?”

The three Galra turned to him. “Galra are one of, if not the only, species capable of breeding with other species,” Kolivan said. “And it is an abomination.”

Thace’s hands were claws. “As if we are not culpable for _actual_ genocide of entire biospheres, of enslaving entire planetary populations, with allowing an insane dictator to take over the universe. It is willingly mating and bearing alien children that is the abomination,” Thace growled. “You know better.”

Kolivan exhaled. “I will make allowances for your grief,” he said. “We will talk of this again. But you know it is far, far more complicated than you make it out to be.”

“No.” They both turned to Ulaz as he spoke. “It isn’t.”

Keith felt his heart squeeze as Kolivan left, and Thace turned back to him, weaving on his feet. 

“So… if you had brought me with you…”

Thace tried to trace the curve of Keith’s face, but pulled back before he could touch him, fingers curling into a fist as he nodded. “Bringing you back with me was never a possibility.” He exhaled, a long, deep breath. “Kolivan wasn’t wrong. I ran away because I was afraid of what would happen to me… and it happened anyways.”

Keith hugged his own arms. “Then why did you-“

Thace smiled, just a faint curve of his lips. “I loved Jake. That made all of the difference in the universe.”  


“Yeah, but-“

“I wanted you.” Thace scratched the back of his neck. “You are your sire’s son, and that meant I brought something good into this universe even if… No matter what else I did. You were there. I wanted to fight for you.” He brought his eyes back up to Keith’s. “I am sorry I left you. That I left your father. I do not deserve your forgiveness, and I won’t ask.”

Keith’s throat closed, and his eyes burned as he tried to hold back the tears. 

“I left because of the same reason I came. The universe would come for Earth eventually and… and if I could slow Zarkon and the Empire down, I had to,” Thace said. He lifted one hand again, and this time, Keith stepped closer, letting Thace touch his face, tears finally overflowing as the air wheezed in his chest. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ulaz move towards and out the door, and he looked back to Thace as he petted his hair.

“You used to… you used to like to like this,” Thace said. “Made you sleepy when I read to you.” Keith didn’t answer, instead leaned forward, putting his forehead on Thace’s chest. The deep rumble was familiar, safe, and Thace lowered himself back down to the stairs to sit. “Do you still like ice cream? You- before I left, you had just started eating solid food and Jake had given you chocolate ice cream and you ran in circles for a varga- an hour- afterwards-“

Keith managed to breathe deep, finally; Thace still smelled like lingering pain but under that was something so familiar that he gave in and cuddled close. “You’re babbling,” he said, after a moment. His face was buried in Thace’s chest while Thace rubbed his back and he felt…

Thace chuckled. “I’m terrified.”

Keith pulled back to look at him. “Me too.”

“What do you want from me?”

Keith pondered; the purring left him content and boneless, the shyness and nervousness distant. “I don’t know yet. I thought you hated me.”

Lips brushed his hair. “I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always.” The English words were strange and familiar and Keith had to fight to keep from crying again. “As long as I’m living…” A gusty sigh went by his ear. “You’re an adult, obviously, but…”

“My Mama you’ll be,” Keith finished. 

They sat together, for several moments, Thace rocking back and forth as he held Keith and Keith just… reveled in it. The entire universe was falling apart, but for that moment, he had his Mama back.

And Mama loved him. 

“What happened to Jake?”

~*~*~*~*~

Jake jumped at the sound of knuckles rapping on his cell door.

“Kogane,” a voice called, and Jake swung his legs off his bunk, staring as Iverson came in.

“Yes?” he asked, voice dull and rusty, old anger making him creak. “Y’all want something?”

Iverson make a soft snort, then stepped back… only to be replaced by a dark haired young man.

Jake’s heart tried to climb out of his throat and dance on the floor.

“Keith?” He got to his feet, hands out, afraid he was dreaming this. He had dreamt of it _so many times_ -

“ _Dad!_ ” the young man sobbed, crossing the two steps to crash into him, wiry arms trying to crush his ribcage as he all but _screamed_ into his neck. “Oh god, Dad, they told me you were dead, they told me-“

It was okay, because Jake was squeezing back. “Goddamn it, boy, I missed you so much-“ he stepped back and clapped his hands on Keith’s shoulders, gripping them tightly. “Let me- oh my boy. You’re all growed up. Look at you- just _look at you-”_

“Dad.” And suddenly he straightened, and Jake saw that his boy truly _had_ grown up, had become a man when he wasn’t there- he stifled the urge to punch everyone in the Garrison that had held him since he had been arrested for Joe’s murder. “Come on.” And now his face was serious, grim. “I’m getting you out of here.”

Iverson’s frown deepened, before shaking his head. “Right. You really think I’m going to-“

Explosions echoed in the background, and Jake had to resist the urge to cover Keith’s head as the building shook.

“I don’t think you understand, Commander,” Keith said, squaring his shoulders and looked the older man dead in the eye. “I’m taking my Dad, we’re leaving the Garrison, and there’s not a damn thing you can do to stop me.”

~*~*~*~*~

Thace sat in the Holt household, absently watching the curtains blow in the afternoon breeze.

It had been nearly twenty years since he had last gotten to watch an Earth sunset. Twenty years since he had gotten to sit and enjoy the pleasures of being planet side. Colleen was sitting beside him, on her new, brocade couch, both of them covered in Taco Bell bags (Tacos. He had missed tacos _so damn much_ ) and his fingers were covered in hot sauce and grease. There was a dog (who was hiding. But after Princess, almost all dogs were stupid) and pictures on the walls. It wasn’t the same as his short, precious months in Jake’s house, but…

“Keith and Pidge said they would be back in a few hours,” Colleen said, rifling through the bags. “Tried this yet? It’s a called a crunch-wrap supreme.”

Sitting on the floor were Sam and Matt. “Gimme a burrito,” Matt said, licking his fingers as he polished off his nachos. 

Thace handed the bag over. 

That their children had come to know each other, and were part of the Paladins of Voltron both was not an irony lost to them. And while Thace had not been able to rescue the Holts directly, he had kept tabs of their whereabouts. It seemed fitting, that after he had been reunited with his son that Thace had been able to help Colleen find hers.

“Eating shitty fast-food and watching children’s movies,” Sam said, and chuckled, legs stretched out in front of him. “It’s the little things.”

“I agree,” Thace replied, unwrapping his hexagonally shaped tortilla food and cramming as much into his mouth as possible.

“You’ve got twenty years of Disney movies to catch up on, along with Studio Ghibli and Pixar,” Colleen said. “We may have to run out for seconds.”

That was when the bike pulled up to the house. 

It sounded nothing like his old hoverbike, or Jake’s well-loved truck. He did recognize the sounds of Keith’s tread, as well as Pidge’s lighter steps. But when a third set of feet hit the gravel outside, Thace tilted his ears forward, lifting his head and frowning. 

He glanced over at Colleen, and the impish grin on her face sent his belly into fits of butterflies. He rolled off the side of the couch, getting to his feet, just as the door opened.

The years hadn’t been kind to Jake; well, not to either of them, if Thace were honest. His hair flecked with silver, and lines were cut deep into his face. But his smile was as warm and as sweet as Thace remembered. 

Jake strode in, eyes wide, with that giant, toothy smile splitting his face. 

“Hey, Handsome.” He scratched his fingers through Thace’s beard, brushing over the gray streaks in his mane. Thace put his hands on his waist and leaned down, brushing their lips together.

“I’m home.”

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus ends what was supposed to be a... small... short... story. Yeah. I may write a short epilogue with some reunion sex and a bit of 'well, this is a weird family dynamic' but this can be considered the end.
> 
> Thank you, everyone who commented, kudo'd and bookmarked. Y'all made me very happy. The sequel will come after I've focused on my other WIP Voltron fic.
> 
> And, it's my birthday. ^_^


	15. epilogue

_He’s back_ there. _Back there, where the Druids are questioning, pulling, prying, making lightning dancing across his skin, talons digging into his soul like hooks to drag out the answers they want_ -

_He tries to separate himself, to think about_ then, _but they won’t let him, they won’t give him the chance_ -

“Hey, Handsome, it’s okay,” _Jake whispered._

_He had finally gone mad. There could be no other reason for it. Because Jake was on Earth, with his whelp, his baby_ -

“You can wake up now,” _Jake said. And Thace fought the urge to scream._

Thace blinked open his eyes, inhaling, as Jake wrapped his arms around his head. “Hey, hey- I’m here. You’re here in the Castle and you’re with me.”

He still couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, but Jake put his lips to Thace’s ear. 

“You’re here with me. You can smell me, right? And Keith? He’s down the hall pretending we don’t know he’s got a boyfriend. You got out. Then Keith got me out. They fixed you up.” Jake combed Thace’s mane with his fingers. “Breathe with me. You did it when Keith was born, remember?”

That memory- a completely different pain, and his utter befuddlement as Jake told him to breathe, just breathe, keep breathing like this (and nearly hyperventilating later)- and the accompanying absurdity was enough to pull him back to the present, and Thace exhaled, going limp as he buried his face in Jake’s chest. 

He heard Jake sigh, his fingers brushing over Thace’s ears. “I should never have let you go,” he mumbled. “Should have told you that going back was stupid and you had earned a rest.”

“I had a rest,” Thace answered. The shaking had stopped. Now he just wanted to curl into Jake and never let go. “Others didn’t.”

Jake grumbled, and Thace let him. There really wasn’t much else to be said. 

It had been nearly twenty years since they had last seen each other. Nearly twenty years since they had touched, or even communicated. 

(Thace had tried to ask, carefully, after that first kiss, if Jake’s feelings had changed. Jake had answered by stroking his jaw and returning the question. They hadn’t asked again.)

Just having Jake pet him, hold him again, had made the years apart melt away. But knowing that their son had helped been part of the downfall of Zarkon? That made the pain and confusion and uncertainty, even the torture, worth it. Not selfish, not self-indulgent, not a betrayal of the Blade of Mamora and their ideals.

Thace wrapped around Jake, purring quietly and nuzzling his neck. “You smell good,” he said absently. He always did. Jake laughed, startled at the change. 

“Just what I used to shower, Handsome,” he protested. He quietly kept petting Thace, hands wandering before pulling back up. Thace shivered, but for a completely different reason this time. 

His body hadn’t calmed completely from the nightmare; the excitement translated a little too easily from a desire for Jake’s touch in comfort to something more. It had been a long time since he had felt desire for its own sake; a long time since he had touched someone because seeing their own pleasure enhanced his own. 

Jake still liked to have Thace’s talons draw up and down his arm, his side, for Thace to nip his ear. Seeing his lips curl and eyebrows lift, breath hitching… it had Thace swallowing hard as he went from stressed to suddenly needing, craving, Jake inside him.

He was still taking his contraceptive religiously, keeping a timer and a dedicated virtual intelligence to monitor when he should take it. He had been forced, a few times, to resort to the Galra equivalent of a morning after pill… illegal, but he wasn’t taking any chances. 

Jake was Jake. Jake was pleasure and love and… He licked, softly, down the side of Jake’s face. 

He carefully put his hand over Thace’s. “You okay? You were mighty upset, just a moment ago,” he said softly. “You don’t go jumping into something you’d regret later.”

Thace pressed his forehead to Jake’s. “I have many regrets. You are not one of them.”

~*~*~*~*~

Jake looked down at Thace, watching him sprawled out, relaxed and boneless as a well-fed cat. He stroked him, letting himself enjoy the body under his hands, covered in fine fur and dense muscle. The skin twitched when he found a sensitive place, or a new scar.

“I forgot how much of a looker you are, Handsome,” he teased. The joke was old, familiar and reassuring. Thace’s small smile let him know he had hit the mark. “Good for you?”

“Hmm,” his lover purred, rolling on to his side. “Yes. Been awhile.”

“That it was good for you?”

Thace grabbed his hand and brought it to his face. “That someone bothered to ask.” 

There were some things that they hadn’t talked about yet. But twenty years ago they had managed, awkwardly and painfully, to confront the reality that they would likely never see each other again. Thace had told him to find someone new, that it was okay, that it was fine. He had watched enough PBS to get the idea that humans usually paired for raising children. Do what was best for their son. Please be happy.

He had just asked Thace to fucking _survive_. And, then, to see him again, after everything…

Jake stroked Thace’s cheek. “Always. You deserve it.”

The sound Thace made was content and sleepy, small fangs peeking out of his lips as he smiled and curled up on his side. His eyes were half-lidded. He was still naked on top of the sheets, and Jake fought the urge to get between his legs again to eat him out. 

Alien as he was, he was still beautiful. 

He was also on the verge of passing out, and Jake let himself be pulled in to cuddle. He listened to Thace purr, softly and effortlessly, until he was sure that Thace was asleep. 

Jake, sadly, was wide awake and not relaxing any time soon. 

His internal clock still didn’t function well with the Castle time. He had years upon years of getting up early for feeding the chickens, for doing PT, for making sure he got Keith off to school with a full belly. Not having a sun just felt weird. The aliens had, kindly, adjusted the Castle’s room lights to follow something like a twenty-four-hour day, and the kids -the Paladins- tended to follow a strict routine to maintain their own sanity.

So he got up, went to get a cloth to clean himself up and do the same for Thace, and then drew up the covers to Thace’s shoulders. He grabbed his pants, stepped into them and finished dressing to go find something to drink. 

He stepped out of the room and… hell. He made a soft whistle. His life was something else. In the span of a day, he had gone from being a prisoner of the Garrison to living on a Castle ship with his purple cat boyfriend and half-alien son.

He hadn’t put his shoes on, and padded down the cold metal floors trying to remember where the kitchen was. It was close to the ship’s morning, he reckoned, though super early. 

“What are you doin’ up?” Jake asked, as he passed the lounge. Keith was there, sitting and just… staring. “Don’t you got your boyfriend to help you sleep?”

Keith’s face flushed as he looked away. “Dad,” he muttered.

“What? The job of all dads everywhere is to make you embarrassed by mentioning that I know you actually got feelings in your pants. I gave you the talk right early,” Jake said, walking over and taking a seat by Keith’s side and nudging him with an elbow. “I’ll stop teasing you,” he said, as Keith sighed and looked at his hands. “Just… you okay?”

Keith sighed again. “I’m worried about Shiro.”

Given where he was kept prisoner, Jake _had_ been kept up to date about certain things. Colleen, at least, had made sure to keep him up to date on Keith’s life, even if he couldn’t see him. That the Garrison’s brightest had seen fit to step in and mentor Keith had made Jake want to shake the man’s hand and call him brother. 

Jake knew his limitations as a person; Keith was meant to fly, and Jake was rooted firmly to the ground. There were things he just couldn’t teach him. But he had been concerned when Keith had tried to apply for the Garrison when he was too young…

Keith sighed again, and this time leaned into him. “I feel like I let him down, I let you down. I should have realized they were lying that you were dead. I should have realized that I was the one that-“ and he looked away. 

“You wanted to fly. I shouldn’ta stood in your way. And I should have told you why I didn’t want you applying at the Garrison Academy when you was a kid,” Jake answered, leaning back. “But I never knew what I should say. I could have said ‘Keith, your Mama was a giant purple cat-alien that liked to eat my pullets,’ but when? I tell you when you were a kid you might not understand you had to keep it to yourself. I tell you when you’re older, you might think I’m crazy.” He covered his face with his hands. “And I wound up driving you off instead.”

“The truth was… I don’t know. I had an idea. I don’t know where it came from. Maybe the dagger. Maybe part of me remembered him. Just that Mama wasn’t normal. That I wasn’t-“ he pressed his lips together and inhaled deeply again. 

“Normal?” Jake ruffled his hair, and Keith made a face and pulled back. “I asked your Mama, Thace, back when he was carrying you, what you might turn out like. You got his temper, and some damn fine reflexes. Otherwise you’re human enough for government work.” And now Keith sniggered at an old joke. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what? I’m the one that got you locked up for five years,” Keith said thickly. “Because I wouldn’t listen.”

“It’s over and done.” He ruffled Keith’s hair again. “You disappeared for, what, almost a year and I-“ he choked. “I lost Thace, then you, and… Part of me hoped. I prayed, you two would find each other. Somehow. God, boy, you scared me so bad.”

Keith hugged him. “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you, too. Honey, you found your Mama out here in the big dark.” He stroked Keith’s hair now, like when he had been little. “Call it fate, or destiny, or karma, but you’ll find Shiro again. It might not happen now, but hang in there.”

Keith wiped his watery eyes. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” He dropped a kiss on Keith’s forehead. “I’m proud of the person you are now.”

Keith’s face colored in the dim light. “And… um… you and Thace seem to be getting along..?” he asked, tentatively. 

“He was smiling when I left,” Jake teased, and Keith’s face went incandescent. “Don’t worry about us.” Jake tilted his head. “What do you think of him?”

Now Keith leaned back, and let out a long, slow breath. “When I found out about the Galra, I hated them. They’ve caused so much death and destruction and I hated myself for having that. But then I met the Blade of Marmora, and they’re… really intense, but they were trying to stop Zarkon and they’ve been great allies since.” He kicked his feet. “Awhile after Thace came on board, he asked me about my life… and if I knew who the kind shoe man was.” Keith ducked his face as a smile split it. “He looked so sad when I told him that Mr. Rogers had died awhile back. He also helped Hunk find some substitutions for Earth foods. He made something that tasted a lot like your corn bread. That’s when I realized how much he liked Earth… and that he still missed you.”

Now it was Jake’s turn to feel himself flush. “I shoulda punched Ulaz in the dick when he came,” he muttered. 

“You did,” a sleepy voice murmured. Thace was standing there, in loose, flowing pants and tunic top. “When you got him down you got your shotgun and threatened to shoot out his kneecaps.”

At Keith’s stupefied expression, Thace explained further. “Ulaz was… not friendly to you when he arrived. He was quite disapproving of your existence and my, ah, deviance.”

“I shoulda shot out his knees then,” Jake muttered darkly. 

“I _fought_ Ulaz. He was-“

“Very surprised when a small alien walked up with a very large quadrupedal carnivore and punched him in the dick,” Thace explained. “Ulaz is not a weak warrior by any means. But he is also underestimated how Jake would react to hearing you cry.”

Jake scratched the back of his head. Thace, carefully and slowly, sat down next to Keith, perching on the edge like he wasn’t sure how he would be received. Keith was staring at Jake like he was seeing him for the first time.

“You take after your father, a lot,” Thace said. “Did he ever tell you about when you were born?” And Keith shook his head. “He had been shot.”

“That was a week before-“ and Keith made a small noise, hugging Jake’s arm. 

“No, but you kept calm, told me as much about your brother’s weapon as you could, kept him distracted while I went after him-“ And now Keith was starting to look panicked as he looked between his parents. “Which was much better than I was.”

“There a point to this?” Jake asked. “You’re just scaring him.”

“Keith, you have sometimes wondered how much of your nature is from me, and how much from Jake, I’m sure,” Thace said calmly. “The part of you that is brave and will fight to protect what you love, and the part of you that can keep a cool head and stand up for those you care about, no matter how bad the odds, is all from this fool.” He pointed at Jake with his thumb.

“And he gets his willingness to do what is necessary, no matter how much it hurts, to do the right thing, from a certain sneaky cat thief I could name,” Jake retorted. 

Keith shrank down a little, but the smile on his face was bright. “You two are terrible.”

“Guess so,” Thace said, and he sounded completely cheerful. “That I can be terrible with Jake, is something I…” He reached behind Keith, and Jake did the same thing, both of them putting their arms over Keith’s shoulders and together squeezed in and-

Keith started laughing.

“He doesn’t fit as well as he used to,” Thace lamented, and Jake smiled at him. “I used to carry you everywhere.”

“You used to climb on him,” Jake told Keith. “Because he didn’t want to put you down after you learned to walk. And you _fussed_. Fussed so hard. You wanted to be down running and Thace here-“

“I knew there would be a last time I put you down,” Thace murmured. “If I could, I would carry you _now_. You’re still small.” He combed through Keith’s hair, and Keith found himself leaning into Thace with his eyes closed as he did it.

Keith’s eyes were drowsy, and the look of content and safety on his face was priceless.

Jake let himself bask in the moment of peace, before they all heard a loud thump come from the hallway.

Both Thace and Keith jumped to their feet, with Jake feeling his age and following a moment later. Both, together in unison, went for their swords.

“The alarm’d be goin’ off, fellas,” Jake said, shuffling into the hall. “Hold your horses and let’s not stab the nice people on board.”

Neither answered, following him, until they got to the relative darkness of the corridor and-

“Ulaz?” Thace asked, sheathing his blade and stepping around Jake. Jake shared a glance with Keith. The other Galra on board had folded down on himself, on his knees, shoulders heaving with one hand slapped over his mouth.

“I’ll get a bucket,” Keith said, running towards the kitchen as Thace put his hand on the back of Ulaz neck. 

“Think you can get up?” Thace asked him, and Ulaz shook his head. His entire body convulsed as Keith dashed back, holding a giant bowl and thrusting it under Ulaz nose. Just in time.

Keith skipped away, staring as the other Galra wretched.

Jake looked up and met Thace’s eyes, who gave him a small nod, and he felt… “I got some stuff. Just in case. I brought it, and… It helped you. That time.” He took Keith by the shoulders. “We’re gonna go get some of the supplies we put in cryo while Thace talks to Ulaz.”

“What?” Keith said, before letting himself be lead. “Yeah. Um. Sure.” He knew he was not in on something. And Jake had a good idea of what might be going on, but he wasn’t sure.

“I brought some ginger ale. Want me to bring some of that up?” Jake asked, and Thace bared his teeth. 

“That may be wise.”

“I am fine,” Ulaz protested, despite retching again, and this time bringing up nothing but bile. Oh yeah. Jake remembered that part. 

“I’ll get some of the candy, too.”

“What’s going on? Dad?” Keith asked, as Jake steered them both away and down towards the storage bays. “What-“

“I don’t know Ulaz too well, but… did he happen to be real fond of anyone?”

~*~*~*~*~

Thace left Ulaz in the corridor after the worst of the retching had stopped to remove the bowl and clean up the mess, and returned with a wet cloth to clean his face. They had been quick enough to spare much of a mess; the cloth was more for comfort than anything else.

“So, my friend. Can you stand?” he asked. “And do I need to be giving you congratulations, or to look for revenge?”

Ulaz was quiet as Thace helped him to his feet and he accepted the arm around his waist, helping him to the lounge. “I… seem to find myself on the end of some karma and need to ask for your help.”

“What do you need?” Thace asked. “Take your time telling me. You’ve… helped me with accidents,” and he sighed deeply. “Enough of them, over the years. We shouldn’t have trouble finding something.”

“That is the crux of the matter,” Ulaz said, taking a seat. “This whelp is wanted.” The shock must have shown on Thace’s face, because Ulaz grimaced. “It is the Black Paladin’s. Shiro’s.”

Thace took a deep breath. “I see.” He sat down beside Ulaz. “Then when Jake comes back, I would highly suggest taking him up on the ginger ale and candy. It was a struggle to take in enough calories and remain hydrated for some weeks, when I carried Keith.”

Ulaz leaned away. “I am not unaware of the irony. I had, once, disparaged you for mating with an alien.”

“And now you have done the same,” Thace completed. “I won’t fault you. You have simply grown in taste and sophistication.” Ulaz snorted at his words. “What would you have of me?”

Ulaz leaned down, resting his elbows on his knees, head in his hands. “Counsel. My friend, I have no idea what to _do_.” And now his arms and limbs trembled. “He is lost to me. He is gone, I cannot find him, no matter how I search, and now this- I want this. I am proud to hold this. But Kolivan will be unsupportive, the Blades will hold me in contempt. I want to continue searching for Shiro but I will start nesting soon.”

Thace took a long, deep breath. Ran scenarios through his head. “I am surprised that this has occurred. You are impulsive but take precautions.”

“I had taken my injection. But it seems that Galra react, hm, very strongly to humans. The serum that prevents us from ovulating seems to be,” and his ears twitched and Thace’s went flat. “They seem to counteracted.” 

Thace coughed. “So Keith-“

“Congratulations. It seems we are almost more fertile with humans than we are with our own kind,” Ulaz said softly. “So be cautious.”

Thace didn’t speak for several moments, just rubbed Ulaz back. Thoughts tumbled through his head, but they weren’t unhappy ones. There had been a great aching void in his soul for the past twenty years. And while this wouldn’t make the pain go away, it plugged the hole and stopped the sluggish bleeding.

The silence stretched until Jake and Keith returned. 

He was grateful that they were capable of going to Earth. They were likely to need more.

“Jake, Keith… Ulaz. I have a proposal. Keith,” he said, looking at his son as they plied Ulaz with the beverage. “Would you like to be a big brother?”

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus ends the epilogue. I'm working on the sequel. I hope to get it done but I'm super stymied on it, which is frustrating because other things come up that are more my wheelhouse and I'm having an easier time writing it. So. Wish me luck!

**Author's Note:**

> World-building notes: The idea is that Galra go through a period of time where they are capable of siring children, usually in their youth through adulthood. But at some point, their reproductive system shifts to being able to be impregnated. Different cultures would handle it differently, but in Zarkon's militarized regime, hierarchy is everything and a broody subordinate is likely to be abused. Higher ranking officers could sire more offspring, which suppresses the brooding for awhile. Not submitting would result in censure, loss of position, etc. Though I can also see a higher ranking officer who has gotten broody being quite happy force younger subordinates to sire offspring for him. And as a result of this, I'm imagining the Galra as being all one gender, much like how the asari of Mass Effect do. Pronouns would be based more on animate/inanimate, number and based on social hierarchy rather than gender. 'He' is still used no matter what station in life they are in, because male is closer to how they see themselves. 
> 
> I think way too hard for my own prompt...


End file.
